Commited
by Pen to Paper Writer
Summary: Richard Castle is not the famous author...just yet. He had a secret that he will not let anyone know about, not even his mom. He needs to save her. That's what he was put on this earth to do. It will be a close save, but he will protect her from harm.
1. Chapter 1

1

New York City's Bellevue Psychiatric Ward. It is synonymous with the horror stories that have been handed down over the decades. Like for instance lets take Nellie Bly. The year was 1887. She was a society page writer for The World newspaper and was tired of doing so. To make an impact on her career she had decided to have herself committed to Bellevue acting like she was crazy. She played the part to the hilt, had the doctors and all of the medical staff there believing she actually was crazy. It lasted 10 days and then she was sprung with the help of the papers attorney. With the facts she had gathered, they made for an exciting series of articles. Then in the years to come they had made her a best-selling author.

Then there were the horror stories that were held within the walls of the hospital. From the early 1900's up until the present day, there were many. Tales of abuse, assault, rape and yes even murder. Most of the perpetrators went unpunished and since they had closed the main wing of the psychiatric department most of the complaints that were filed against said perpetrators somehow ended up missing. The stories began to drop off. Sure, as technology advances so do the insane. There are less and fewer stories now than there were 10 years ago. But before the psychiatric ward was closed down for good there were people left over from the wing that needed to be transferred to a facility that could handle the influx of all the patients here at Bellevue.

He was a young man. His mother had noticed a slight change in him and she was a little worried. He was usually liked asking questions and was so outgoing towards people he hardly knew. Then one day things had changed. He started to withdraw and the usually happy young man was not so happy anymore. Tests were run, and then more tests were run, but there was no medical reason for his withdrawal from society. His friends at first thought it was weird that he did not want to do anything with them and when he did not even acknowledge that they were friends, his friends just forgot about him altogether. Time passes and he is now more withdrawn than when he was younger. His mother was at her wits end. She had nowhere else to turn. He would do three things during the course of the day. He would go to school, return home, eat and then stay in his room until breakfast the next morning. He had turned into a recluse. In the 4 years at high school, he just went about taking the required courses to graduate. Nothing more, nothing less. After graduation, his mother decided that enough was enough. She was going to get him out of his room, even if it killed her.

Deciding that she still respected his privacy, she knocked on the door and waited. Standing ever so quiet and still. She knocked again after waiting for a good 2 minutes. Still not hearing a response, she thought the worst. Without hesitation, she opened the door and entered his room. Her eyes cast upon his still form sitting on the edge of the bed. She walked towards him and asked him if he was okay. There was no response. She waved her hand right in front of his eyes, and even snapped her fingers too, but he never blinked. Seeing that after a half hour there was no change in him she slowly backed out of his room. She needed to do something this had gone on for long enough. The next day she contacted about 3 specialists. She escorted him to each appointment and they all had come with nothing...again. She decided that drastic measures were called for. Contacting the family doctor, the one she was reluctant to talk about her son's problem in the first place because he was old school. He liked things neat and wrapped up with a bow. She dreaded what his recommendations would be after the visit. Sure enough, it came. She was informed that her son was suffering from a bi-polar disorder bordering on psychotic. She scoffed at the diagnoses. After paying for his services, they were gone. This was not was happening with her son. He was not losing his mind. There was something else that was at the root of his problem.

On the way home in the car, he was silent. Not saying much of anything. He was staring out the window of the car. As they pulled up to a red light on Mercer St. she noticed that his facial expression had changed drastically. He had turned his head and was just looking at a little girl being led by an older woman. She herself did not recognize either person, but as the light turned green and she started to roll away he let out a small whimper and watched them as she drove away. It was the only sound she had heard from him in the last 5 years. When they returned home he was back in his room not talking or doing much of anything. She thought back to the event with the little girl, well maybe she was a little older possibly about 13 or 14. It was the first sounds she had heard out of him in years, and she wanted to hear it again. She knew that there was only one thing left to do.

The next day she made an appointment to speak with the chief of the psychiatric medicine at Bellevue Hospital. There was not much left for her to do about him. She thought that she was doing the right thing by getting him the help he needed to break this separation between his life and the people living on the outside. She went to see the doctor with the recommendation from the family doctor and things moved quickly from that point forward. She explained the situation and the symptoms to him and he just nodded his head. She could only think of those bobble head dolls with his reactions. At the end of her summary, he suggested that she bring him in and they would perform a full battery of tests. Two days later he stood there in his room dressed and waiting. She called for him to come downstairs and bring his bag.

The ride to Bellevue was a short one. Arriving, they reported to the intake desk and she signed the required paperwork to have him admitted for his tests. The doctor assured that she was free to come and visit him whenever she wanted to. Being his mother, there were no limits as to when she could see him. She took his hand and looked him directly in the eyes and said

"Richard, this is for the best. They will find out why you are in this state of mind."

He just stared at her, his face never showed any emotion or fear. She gently kissed his cheek and then stepped back. An orderly had come over with a wheelchair and sat him down into it. Without haste, the orderly had strapped the Velcro straps to his arms at the wrists and at his ankles and a quite large one around his mid-section. His mother looked over and asked if this was totally necessary. The orderly told her that it was a hospital procedure and that it was only for his own safety. She watched as they wheeled him away, her heart breaking just a little more. But little did Martha know this was going to be the last time she would ever see her son again.

The doctor that had guaranteed Martha that the tests he needed done would be performed within two days after his admittance. He went on to explain that there will be a period where they just observed him before actually bringing him in for the tests. Those tests were never done. Instead, her son was placed in a 6X6 padded room and strapped to a bed. The only interaction he had been when the staff brought him his food and his medications. And there were many of them. Carbamazepine was the drug that started all this. Soon it was replaced by Sodium Valporate. He was also on Lamotrigine for what they thought was his worst bout of being Bi-Polar. After administering medication that he never needed, he was finally prescribed Olanzapine to prevent any type of relapse.

Years had past. There was a coldness to his soul. He wondered if she was alright. His mother had not come to see him in about 4 years. He was going to be 29 in a couple of weeks and he really wanted to see his mom. Maybe she would be free to visit him on his birthday this year. He had been palming the medications they had been giving him since that very first day in this hell hole. He had been moved all around this place without staying in any one room long enough to figure a way to get out. Now he was in his bed with the Velcro straps at his arms and legs, in still yet another room. But he had been here long enough to actually study the room and he has found a place where he could possibly make a break for it.

Then he felt it. He felt pain. Her pain, along with a force that was too powerful for him to fathom. It was a sharp pain that connected his body to hers. Well, maybe not her body in reality, but her feelings. The pain he felt was deep and he wished he could take it away from her. She had grown since he saw her last and she was 19 now much older than the 14-year-old he saw on the sidewalk years ago. Waiting to know if she had finally had sensed his connection to him he started to chant "0334" over and over again. This went on for about 9 months. He was still given his meds and he kept right on palming them. It was then that he realized that his vision was right. He had to get some kind of note or letter to her. He did have access to the internet, but only for a limited time and without the staff knowing. He had found a way to get out of the restraints they placed him in and once he figured out how to escape from those getting out of the room was easy. He would roam the halls late at night and explore. The only issue he had been that they did a bed check every two hours. He was always in his room by that time. He did not want to push his luck. Two hours was more than enough time to gather information.

He had tried to find out her email address, but he came up empty. She was only 19 so maybe she didn't have one. So he waited for the next chance he got to get out he would try something different. He would contact his mom and ask her to visit him and then he could give her a warning that something terrible was going to happen in 12 years time and he needed to stop it from happening. The next night around 2:00 in the morning he noticed the orderly look through his square window and check to see that he was secured to his bed. Seeing that he was, he moved on to the next room.

 **A/N: This was going to be a Halloween 2015 fanfic entry. It's just that I probably won't be finished with it by the time Halloween will arrive. This story starts off sort of slow and the timeline is off by a lot so please drop me a PM or a review to let me know if you want this to continue. If not too many readers want it to go on I will remove it by next week. Thanks!**


	2. Chapter 2

They orderly had looked in and made sure that he was secure. There were noises that he had heard earlier in the evening and he quickly checked all the loonies on the first-floor alpha wing. Every patient was where they should be. He was not going to be blamed for not taking the time to make sure that all the patients on his wing were accounted for.

Rick was holding his breath, as the guard who looked in on him made sure he was there. He was making it look like he was asleep. He had found out some information on his bonded mate. They had been linked for quite some time and he was getting too upset by being in this place. He needed to be out of here. He needed to save her from her own death. He needed to get back to the computer again the next night. He needed to go to the Stanford University's website and perform a quick search for her. He would bide his time for the next 22 hours, but it would be worth the wait. He had only hoped that he could get a message to her.

 _Flashback_

Martha Rodgers had just done the only thing that she thought was the right thing to do. She had her son committed to Bellevue. She was sure that the doctor she had left him with would keep her updated on his testing schedule. She had left the hospital with the total trust of the doctor performing these tests on Richard. She, however, would be making a grave mistake. Bellevue was the place where people with issues went to and were never to be heard from again. She was rushing uptown to a reading for a part in a play being written by Adam Rapp. She was running a little late and was not really thinking about what she was doing to get to the playhouse. She had wanted to stay with her son, but she needed to pay the bills this is why she was driving like a lunatic up 7th Ave. (Avenue of the Americans) with the hopes of making it to the theater before noon. This would not be the case. As Martha drove, the thoughts of her son weighed heavy in her head. She neglected to notice the traffic light at 38th St. and 7th Ave turn red in her direction of travel. It was then when she noticed the construction dump truck heading towards her with no intention of stopping in time.

Pablo, the dump truck driver for Acme construction could not believe his good luck. He had hit almost every green light on 38th St. as he was heading east. He was moving too fast for the posted speed limit of 30 MPH. He was on the last run of the day he had 80,000 pounds of 3/4" gravel for a job on the east side. He would make it to the job site and still be home in time to pick up his son from school. He was home free when he came to 7th Ave. He could see the traffic start to slow down for the yellow in their direction. He stepped harder on the gas pedal, that was until he noticed the small Pontiac Grand Am. The car had simply ran the red light. By the time he had reacted and hit the brakes the dump truck he was nowhere near slowing down enough to avoid a collision. All he remembered was the front bumper of his truck striking the drivers side of the small car.

Martha was too caught up in her thoughts of her son to see that the light had changed from yellow to red. She kept moving north on 7th Ave. As she was looking north up 7th Avenue something large caught her eye. It was not until then when she had realized that she had ran the red light. Within seconds her car was turned into a twisted pile of steel, plastic and glass. Pablo's truck had hit her right behind the drivers seat, but when he did so, it spun the front of her car under the front tire and bumper of his truck. By the time he came to a complete stop he had settled about 350 feet down 38th from 7th Avenue. As he jumped down from the cab of his truck, he quickly ran forward towards the car that was wedged under his front end. When he got there all he saw was blood and a lot of it. He knew without moving any closer that the woman driving would not make from the accident scene.

Martha tried to brace for the impact she knew was inevitable. It was her fault. Her mind was some where else and now she was going to pay the price for it. The truck hit her right behind her drivers seat. That she should be grateful for. She could possibly make out of this with maybe a couple of broken bones and cuts and bruises. However it was the force and weight of the truck that sealed her fate. The truck had pushed her car about 300 feet from the intersection. The trauma she had experienced when she was hit caused her internal organs to instantly shut down. Her head came to rest on the door sill where the jagged pieces of glass from the broken window cut into the side of her head and face. She had many open wounds and blood was all over he inside of the car. It looked like she was standing in her fathers slaughter house when she was a child.

Pablo quickly ran to the car wedged under his truck. He called out to the woman who was in the front seat but he received no response. He tried to shake her but still no result. He pulled his cell phone out and dialed 911. He gave his location and the extent of injuries of the woman he had hit to the dispatcher on the other end of the line. About 3 minutes later he heard the wail of sirens getting closer. He hoped one of them was an ambulance.

Martha now had regretted admitting Richard to Bellevue. Now he would be all alone, because she there was no way in hell that she would survive this wreck. She was in her late 50's and the shock of being hit was setting in and by the time the emergency response team got to she knew it would be too late. So she did the only thing she knew how. She raised her hand and motioned towards the man who was driving the truck that had hit her. He came closer and she had the energy to take a pen and a deposit slip from her purse. On it she wrote the following: "Please make sure that my son is taken care of." Her arm fell from the paper and she had lost consciousness. He reached into the car and retrieved the deposit slip and read what she wrote. He looked at it once again before folding it and placing it into his shirt pocket.

The first responders had arrived and Pablo was questioned by the police from the MSTF (Manhattan South Task Force) He was given a sobriety field test and blood was drawn for a BAC test at the scene. Both came back showing that he was fit to be operating the truck he was driving. He was released 3 hours later. It was not until he got home when he remembered the note that the lady gave him. Hell, he did not even know her name. He placed the note on the top of his dresser along with his wallet and comb. He really wanted to help her but he was at a loss about how to go about finding her son.

 _Present Day..._

Rick bides his time. Patiently. He was about to go stir crazy with all the waiting he had done lying strapped to the bed. They had made their security checks throughout the day. He only needed to wait for about another 4 hours and then he could get to the computer and get to work. His time wold be limited to about 20 minutes but ha had planned it all out in his head. If he could not find her through the schools student directory he would start a different search. He would try to find her father. He felt something through her because they were connected. He felt it on the street when she was walking with her mom all those years ago. What he felt now was sadness, and then fury and hatred rolled into one. She was mostly sad and he needed to find out why. Jerry had made his last round. He looked through the safety glass and gave a hard look at Rick's sleeping form. Rick inhaled and exhaled slowly, like he was in a deep sleep. He kept his right eyelid cracked just a bit to know when Jerry had left. Seconds after he left Rick had worked the sharp piece of aluminum from a file binder out of the material in the waistband of his pants. He had limited mobility because after Jerry released him for dinner he re-secured him with less movement in his arms. He was still able to remove the sharp blade from his pants. Now he positioned his hand towards the Velcro strap. It had taken 22 minutes but he cut through the strap holding his right hand to the table and quickly unfastened his left hand and both legs. He walked over to the door and started to slide the other end of the aluminum into the older style key hole. He froze when he heard Jerry and William talking in a whisper right to the left of his door.

He waited until the had started moving down the hallway before he attempted to open the door again. With them now gone he got to work on the lock. He had this part down to a science. The tumblers of the lock were so worn to start with, you could have used a Popsicle stick to open it. Three minutes later he slowly creaks open the heavy steel door. He checks both left and right of the hallway in front of his room and looks across the hall. He has his next area to run to and still not be seen. He makes a dash for the alcove 15 feet up the hallway. He slides into it and gently comes to a stop against the door. One more hurdle and he is in the clear. The room he needs to get to is 26 floor tiles away. He knows that he will be exposed for the longest time getting there, but if he does he will be able to find her. He waits when he hears footsteps. He watches as a doctor and an aide walk down the hallway from right to left. They are gone and he makes his move. In less than 25 seconds he is turning the door handle to the door gaining entry to the dark office. He is happy when he moves the mouse and the machine has only been in sleep mode. He quickly pulls up Stanford University's website. He thinks that she should be a freshman and so he starts there. He sifts through the business school and engineering school with no luck. His time at the computer is starting to decrease while he looks for her. He searches through the school of medicine and again has come up empty. He has about 3 minutes left when he clicks on the law school class. He is searching quickly through the pictures and that's when he sees her, he found her. She is just like he remembered her from their almost meeting years ago. She is older now. He takes a post-it note and writes down her name and her email address. He hides the post-it in his shoe so no one will find it. Now he has a name to go along with her face. Kathrine H. Beckett. As he removes himself from the office he wonders to himself what the H stands for, for her middle name. He moves to the supply closet and retrieves a new piece of Velcro to replace the one he cut off to escape. Everything was going according to plan. That was until he opened the door to the office...

 **A/N: I do apologize for leavening this story abandoned for the last 5 months. I will try to update on a more regular basis.**

 **A/N 2: To the guest who reviewed chapter 1. You are right. The time line is off and I am doing my best to correct that in this and future chapters. There is a note in the description that tells you that I am not really that good with them (timelines) to begin with. Please forgive me. Thanks for your review and support for this story.**

 **P2P**


	3. Chapter 3

As Rick reached for the door handle and twisted it to the right, he quietly cracked it open. What he saw through the crack was both William and Jerry standing in the small foyer connecting the main hallway to the office. Quietly closing the door he held his breath. He knew that his plan had some flaws but human nature was always unpredictable. They stood there and talked about the Mets of all things. This might last the rest of the night. So as they talked his mind went back to Kathrine's "H." He thought of names that might fit. Harriett, Haley, Hallie, Hanna, Helen, Harper, Hayden maybe? Before he knew it William and Jerry had walked down the tiled hallway and he moved back to the office door. Peering through the frosted glass he saw no shadows. Repeating the action once again by opening the door the coast was clear. He counted the number of tiles and two minutes later he found himself at his door. Entering again he looked at the clock on the wall at the end of the hallway and it read 3:48 am. He needed to get some sleep because he would be at it all over again tonight. He hoped that he could get a message to her telling her about his premonition that he kept having over and over for the last 10 years.

Sleep would be short lived. The director had knocked and when there was no reply from Rick, he had the orderly open the door with his key. Walking in Rick woke with a start and almost forgot where he was. He was re-strapped to the bed and the man approached and stood over him.

"Mr. Rodgers, I am here to inform you that there has been an incident that will impact your way of life here at the facility."

Rick still not finding his voice just yet nodded. The director orders the orderly to remove the Velcro straps that secure him to his bed.

With this task complete Rick sits up and looks into the eyes of the man. What he sees in them is fear. Fear and an uneasiness he can't place. He has only met the director once before and he had a hard time reading him then to. He rubs his wrists for effect, and the orderly removes the straps from his ankles. He swings his legs over the side of the bed and stands, stretches his body and follows the director out of his room with the orderly following close behind him just in case. As the director walks down the hallway to his office he tells the orderly that he need not follow him that close and then says something that shocks Rick all together.

"William, please tend to your duties. We will be fine. I'll call for you when we're finished here."

A disappointed William starts to challenge the order but with a stern look from the director he backs down. They enter his office and motions with his eyes for Rick to take a seat. This is not going to be easy Rick thinks to himself. The man looks like he is carrying the weight of the world on his shoulders. The director picks up what he believe to be his file. It has been read so many times that the manilla folder is starting to rip at the fold. Silence fills the room. Whatever it is, Rick still can't read the man.

"Mr. Castle, it seems that you have been with for quite some time. You will have been with us for fourteen years this coming June. I'm certain that while you have been the model patient, the doctors inform me that you seem to be doing this with the absence of any type of medication in your system. Would you care to explain how this can be?"

Rick was not expecting this. Now he needed to think quick. What could he tell the director that would be believable? He was starting to sweat, he could feel it. However, his sweating was short lived when the director started to speak again.

"Mr. Castle there has been an incident involving your mother. It is with my deepest condolences that I have to inform you that she was involved in a traffic accident about three days ago. She was rushed to St. Vincent's hospital where the doctors tried to save her life. It turns out that the injuries that she sustained from the accident were life threatening and she died never regaining consciousness. She will be laid to rest tomorrow morning. There will be a service at ten in the morning. I am sending an aide to purchase a suit for the service for you. I expect you to be your best behavior. Do you have anything to say?"

Rick just shook his head no. The director still had more to tell him.

"Mr. Castle it seems that your mother was a very wealthy woman. She has a trust that she had set up for you when you were younger. It has amassed a very large sum of money. When you return after the funeral service we will be taking control of these funds for your treatment. All that you will need to do is sign the documents that will be drawn up in front of a notary and the bank official."

Like hell, he was going to sign anything for these bastards. He would play along with them but he was not signing anything. His mother left this money for him...not these vultures. He just nodded and without warning a tear gently slid down his cheek. The only emotion he has shown since being trapped in here.

"There is one last item Mr. Castle. A man by the name of Pablo Rios wishes to meet with you. As you have never had any visitors other than your mother I am a bit apprehensive about his intentions. With your approval, I'll set up a supervised meeting later this week."

Rick nods his approval. Pablo Rios he thinks about what he wants but then at the same token he can possibly pass something to him. He knows that after all the times his mother had come to see him, the visitation room is not 100 % secure and the guards can't see everything. So when the director asks him if he has any questions he quickly stands and turns towards the door walks the eight paces towards it stops and waits.

"I'll take that as a no." The director picks up the phone and calls the orderly to return Rick back to his room.

William arrives and steps into the office the director tells him to take the patient back to his room and stop by the café and feed him lunch since it's past one in the afternoon. William takes Rick to the café and waits for him to finish eating standing practically right over him the entire time. As he eats Rick is now hoping that this Mr Rios will be receptive to his request when they meet. Now he needs to concentrate on getting some more rest before he "escapes" again tonight. He can feel that her time is becoming short. He needs to stop her from dying. He can sense her in a way. It's like a feeling of déjà vu. He can swear that they have met somewhere but he still can't remember it. It's more of a feeling that he gets from time to time and he can feel that her life will end if he can't get word to her. His plan for tonight will be just to search her name. He will research her and maybe he will be able to find out where she is now...with any luck. The student directory she was listed under was years old and she had to have left the school by now. He would die to save her he hoped it did not come to that but he would gladly give his life for her. He finished eating and by the way William is tapping his foot on the floor behind him, it's time to leave. He rises and they walk back to his room. William finishes the last strap around his ankle, turns and closes the door. The clink of the lock is the last thing he hears. They are tight but not that tight where he can't work them free later. He actually falls asleep and dreams about her.

 _He sees her running to her mother crying. She was happily playing in the park when a boy had started to bully her. She tried desperately to stand up to this boy but all she heard were the hurtful things that came from his mouth._

" _You are just a baby! Babies don't belong in the part of the park where the big kids play!"_

" _I can so play here! I'm 8!"_

" _No, you can't. This is my part of the park, and I said that you can't."_

" _You're a meanie! I am not going to leave!"_

" _You better get out of here before I beat you up."_

 _Deciding to believe the mean boy was going to hurt her she ran away with tears in her eyes. As she came closer to her mother, Johanna knew something was wrong._

" _Katie-bug what's the matter, baby?"_

"Mommy there is a very mean boy over there and he says that I can't play in his part of the park."

" _Katie no one person owns the park. Maybe you misunderstood him."_

" _Mommy, I know what he said. He's right over there."_

" _Well, let's go have a little chat with him then shall we?"_

" _No mommy, he's just a jerk face. Let's go home."_

" _Katie, you can't be afraid of confrontation. There will be a time in your life when you will need to stand up for yourself. You will need to be strong. But you also need to be understanding. Maybe this boy said what he said because he was afraid of you. Maybe he just wanted to talk to you."_

" _Maybe, but I still want to go home. Can we?"_

Johanna looks in the direction where her daughter had come running from. She notices a boy who was just sitting on the edge of a sand box all by himself looking sad. She wants to go and talk to him but with the looks that her daughter is giving her she thinks better of it.

" _Okay, Katie. Let's go home then."_

 _Little did Kate know then, but later in her life, her mother's words would come back and prove that she would need to be strong for another reason altogether._

Rick wakes with a start. Since he fell asleep without actually doing anything to loosen his straps and now he feverishly started to work on them. He had lost track of time. He hoped that he could get to the office to complete his search. Being stuck in this rubber room he never knew what time it was. His only timepiece was outside in the corridor. It had taken him some time but he was free of his bindings. He crept over to the door and started working the well worn lock. In under a minute he had it opened. Leaving his room he took a quick peek outside of his door to see if any of the orderlies were there. He pulled his head back when he noticed an orderly was slowly walking towards him. He retracted his head and shut the door. Seconds later the man passed his door and kept right on walking. He was headed to the PT room and he was in a hurry. Checking the hallway once more it was empty. He left the room and walked the 22 floor tiles once again and to his surprise the office door was left open. Quickly he enters. He takes a seat at the desk and wakes the sleeping terminal once again. He thinks that he will have better luck using a metasearch engine to find the information he needs. When anyone asks him he says nothing and plays dumb. He does not let on that he knows anything. Little does anyone know but he has mastered anything to do with a computer. Since he has been here he holds two degrees. A masters degree in computer science and a bachelors degree in creative writing. All taken with the time he spends here on the computer. The courses he had taken years ago were easy. Everything was done online and he excelled at them. So now he types her name in the search bar and hits enter.

What he sees as the results start to come up is nothing short of daunting. It seems that there are 37 Kathrine H. Beckett's in the world. So he clicks on each entry and eliminates each by what remembers in his mind. He had a vague image he remembers and he will know her when he sees her. He whittles the list down in under an hour. He is down to 5 Beckett's. One he immediately dismisses because she is a redhead. The next one is eliminated because she is in her 70's. That leaves 3. He contemplates the remaining names. Clicking on the last one first, he reads. The small picture shows a young Beckett. To young in fact. Actually she just turned 15. She's too young to be her. Rick guesses that by now she is in her late 20's at best. Scratch the 15 year old. Bringing up the second Beckett he looks hard at the picture and it could be a match. Her hair is the right color. He clicks on her information and reads. She lives in Seattle Washington. She is an artist who owns her own gallery and has many shows promoting new and upcoming artists. She is married and has 2 young children. He pulls up the many pictures of her in her gallery, some with her husband and some alone. It's the pictures of her when she's alone that interest him most. He pulls up one of her face and zooms in and gets a closer look at the left side of her face and it's not there. It's not there! This is not his Beckett. She is missing the beauty mark half way down her jaw about an inch from her left ear. Knowing that the last result has to be her he clicks on the name. He's right. His memory becomes clearer the more he looks at the picture of one DETECTIVE BECKETT? His premonitions just shot through the roof. There are numerous articles about her and the ways that in his eyes she has become a hero. It started when she was still in uniform as a beat cop. She responded to an apartment fire and since she and her partner were the first on the scene, she threw caution to the wind disregarding her own safety and ran into the burning building. It earned her a suspension but she had saved a toddler and his mother. She carried the toddler out and dragged the mom out behind her at the same time. Then when she just had made detective she was off duty and was walking down the street in the diamond district. She noticed that there was something off with the store owner and one of his patrons. Passing the glass window she stopped and edged herself closer to see what was going on inside. The store owner had his hands raised and the patron was holding a large caliber handgun. She walked to the door and entered as a customer. When the store owner had given her the look to leave she ignored him and proceeded up to the counter asking him about a diamond necklace. The owner looked over to her but the man holding the gun now lowered it out of sight his eyes never left the shop owner. He was going to get what he came for even if it meant killing the owner to get it. She moved out of his line of sight and withdrew her sidearm from it's holster. Keeping it low and along her thigh she walked behind the would be robber and drew on him. She had her weapon pointed directly at the back of his head. Calmly she announced that she was an NYPD detective. The suspect twitched and she took that as a sign that he was thinking about firing at the shop owner. What she didn't know is this would be robber was nothing but a kid with a chip on his shoulder. He was out to prove something and this is how he was going to do it.

The kid slowly placed the gun on the counter and raised his hands. She cuffed him with his hands behind his back Then secured his weapon. It was not until she looked down at the kids crotch after turning him around to leave the shop that she noticed the wet spot there. The twitch was him becoming so scared he pissed in his pants. She told the shop owner to dial 9-1-1 and she pulled the kid outside of the shop. Sector cars were there within minutes. She released custody of the suspect to the the patrol cops. It was their mess to deal with now. Five months later she was awarded an Exceptional Merit Medal for her actions on that day.

As he scrolled down over her life he found out that her mother had been murdered. His visions had accelerated in his head now after reading of her demise. He was seeing something that had to do with her losing her mom. He remembered her on the street so long ago. She looked just like her mom. The resemblance was uncanny. Rick had read enough. He went into the hard drive and surgically deleted any and all information he searched for on this computer. They would never find out that he was here. Securing the computer to it's original state he vacated the office and to his surprise he was able to return to his room without being seen.


	4. Chapter 4

A full day had past. Rick went about his routine. Well what he considered a routine. He was fed and bathed and after that he was strapped back onto the bed. He was getting a little tired of Williams smart remarks all the time about just about every topic. Rick thought if William had any other job other than this one people might actually like him. Now night had fallen. He had worked the straps free again and he carefully left his room. 22 floor tiles later he was through the office door and sitting on the office chair in front of the computer. He needed to research someone else tonight, well actually 2 women. First was his mother and the second was Mrs. Beckett.

He typed his mothers name in the search bar and the information that appeared on the screen only yielded a short paragraph to select from. He clicked on it and the result was her life. Short as it was he read about her work in the theater. She had the lead roll in a comeback play by Neil Simon. It was getting rave reviews for her part in it. She had been working nonstop and this is what probably got her killed. She was always trying to be 10 steps ahead in her day to day and was thinking about how to complete all of her tasks for the day. She was more than likely unaware that she had ran the red light that ended up causing her death. The one last bit of information was her obituary. It was basically a cry for a donation to the arts.

 _Martha Anne Rodgers 58 was a vibrant woman. She was taken from us to soon on Tuesday last in the early afternoon. Dedicated to her craft she never turned anyone away if they needed help. Her acting studio on 41_ _st_ _street was her sanctuary. There had she taught and molded young talent. Her students went on to become Tony and Oscar winners. She currently was starring in a comeback play by Neil Simon. Martha was born and raised in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. She left for New York for a better life. She is survived by her son Richard Rodgers. She will be laid to rest on Friday, after a small mass. Donations in lieu of flowers can be made to the NYSAG._

Rick was in tears. He misses her. She was his lifeline to the outside world. There was no one left. He had no one. He took a moment to reflect on her impact on his life and that's when the tears really started. Calming down he straightened up and typed in the second name. He remembered from the history he read about her last night that her mom's name was Johanna. So off he went back into cyberspace. Seconds later he had many web hits for her name. Her non-profit law firm. Her being the champion for the wrongly accused. She had an impressive 94 % win rate. So he was surprised he read where she had taken on a mobsters case. This was out of her scope of comfort. She mostly took cases that she knew were winnable with a lot of hard work. According to this article she would be buried under information even before she took the case. Still he wondered what else was going on here. Then he got to the article that he was most interested in reading. The sidebar article from page 4 in the Daily News from January 9th 1999 read "Attorney murdered in alley" He read the facts that the paper had found out and while it looked like it was a random gang killing, there was more than that going on here. He finished his reading and the little clock on the lower right of the screen read 4:21 am. He needed to finish his search and leave to get enough sleep for his mothers funeral. Wiping his searching clean from the hard drive he left the office and retreated back to his room.

It was 8:30 when the director had knocked on his door. With him was an orderly he'd never met before. He was carrying a garment bag and Rick knew what it was for. His suit was in it.

"Richard, this gentleman will be assisting you with your tasks at hand for the day. He will get you bathed, shaved, and presentable for your mother's services today. Do not give him a hard time. If you do there will be consequences. Am I understood?"

Rick just nodded to the affirmative and turned to the man with the garment bag with outstretched arms. Rick had changed into his suit that the director had selected for him. He was sure that he would end up paying for it in the end. Tying his tie, he stepped back and looked at himself transformed in the full length mirror. He had grown up and he hoped his mother would like the man he grew into. He looked himself over once more before turning away and sat down and waited for the orderly he had never met before to come back. Time was his enemy now. He was getting fidgety and he kept pulling at his shirt collar. Just as he was going to loosen his tie there came a knock on the door and the unnamed orderly entered.

"Mr. Rodgers, are you ready to go?"

Rick just turned to him and nodded. As he looked at the orderly he winked his eye at him and gently grasped his hand and led him out of his room. As they left the director had walked up to them and handed the orderly the keys to the car that they would use get to the service. The director laid down the ground rules since he could not attend with them.

"There will be no stops to or from the funeral service which starts in a ½ hour."

"Directly there and back. The car is GPS equipped and I will be checking in on its location."

"Mr. Rodgers, there will be no speaking to anyone about you current treatment, location or staff here to anyone outside this facility. Your time spent here, and the treatment you receive from us is privileged information. Not that it'll matter anyway you have not said one word in the fourteen years that you have been our guest here. With that said your ride awaits you."

The orderly escorts Rick to the front of Bellvue. As they get to the entry way doors Rick suddenly stops. The orderly keeps going on but quickly realizes that his charge is not beside him. Rick just looks through the doors and the orderly turns back to get him.

"Mr. Rodgers, why did you stop?

Rick just points to the door and now the orderly has to play charades with him just to get an answer. As it turns out Robbie Labbe is a very good charades player. He played it with his children in Haiti. He watches Rick as he points to the door. He makes a motion with his index finger and his middle finger that shows the motion of walking.

"Yes, Mr. Rodgers we are walking to the car now."

Rick shakes his head violently no.

"Okay, Mr. Rodgers calm down a bit. We'll get there just give me another sign."

Rick acts like he is cradling a baby. And again makes the walking gesture with his fingers.

"Alright, you were a baby when you were brought here?"

He shakes his head no again.

Rick motions the baby cradling again but then places his hands on his chest where a woman's breasts would be.

"Woman? Girl? Wait mother! Robbie guesses.

Rick nods to the affirmative. Then he makes the walking motion again as he points to the doors.

"Okay, let me think a bit." Robbie thinks and starts to put the clues together he thinks. So he ventures another guess.

"Years ago your mother brought you here and you have been here ever since?"

Rick again nods yes.

"Okay, so why aren't we going out then?"

Rick thinks again. Before long he has what he needs to tell him. He motions with a sweeping motion from one side of his body to the other to mean that days have past. Then he shields his eyes from the sun even though they are inside the lobby.

"I think I have it. You've been in your room for so long that you are afraid to go out into the real world again?"

Rick touches his index finger to his nose then he nods yes.

"Mr. Rodgers, I'll be with you the entire time. If at any time you feel out of place just tug on my jacket and we're back here in a flash okay?"

Rick nods again and Robbie takes a hold of his arm. They walk slowly to the front doors and Rick slows as he gets closer to them. Robbie is patient and coaxes him closer still. Rick crosses the threshold expecting a bolt of lighting to strike him down. When nothing happens as he steps out and he is more at ease with the situation. Rick looks up at the beautiful blue sky. Not a cloud in sight. His mother would have loved this. Robbie guides him to the car and opens the car door telling him to get in and fasten his seat belt. He does. Robbie hustles around the back of the car to get in the drivers seat. Soon they are driving to the funeral home where he will say goodbye to his mother.

The ride is about fifteen minutes in duration. As they pull up a valet opens the door and Rick tries to get out but he forgot to release his seat belt as it strains against him. Doing so he gets out and stands right by the car door waiting for Robbie.

"Are you ready Mr. Rodgers?"

Rick nods again. They walk up the red carpeted steps and enter the home. Robbie checks the gold framed directory for the room his mother is being viewed in. They enter the room and he sees her coffin on display. He knows now that this is the last time he will ever see her again. He walks slowly over to the coffin and as they reach the front row of chairs Robbie lets go of his arm. Rick looks around and on either side of her there is an overwhelming amount of flowers. He walks up to her and kneels down on the padded pew kneeler and makes the sign of the cross with his right hand. He bows his head and closes his eyes for about two minutes. When he opens them again he looks at her. The funeral director had done an excellent job of capturing her when she was younger. The only thing that takes away from his work is the fact that during the accident she received a gash to her forehead. It's hardly noticeable but he sees it. He sees everything.

The service starts and ends. The director asks if he will be accompanying them to the cemetery. Robbie tells him that they indeed will be there. Rick just looks over to him with his mouth wide open.

"What, don't look at me like that. This is your mother here you need to be there when she leaves you. Don't worry about the director what he doesn't know won't hurt him...right?"

Rick just smiles and nods. They both head for the car and are waiting for the procession to leave for the cemetery. Rick waves his hand to get Robbie's attention. He motions for a pen. Robbie pulls one from his jacket pocket and Rick finds an old bank deposit slip in the center console. He starts to write. Being curious Robbie looks over and tries to read what Rick is writing. Rick turns away not wanting hm to read what ever he is writing. The car starts to move forward and Rick is still writing. When he is done he folds the slip up and puts it in his pocket then gives Robbie back his pen.

Rick is given a single red rose to place on his mothers coffin. The priest preforms the prayer and before long Rick is walking up to her coffin to place the rose on top of the lid. Robbie does the same and they both head back to the car. Getting in Rick gives one last look at where his mother is knowing that he will never be alive to see it ever again. Tears streak down his cheeks and Robbie hands him a handkerchief.

Upon arriving back at Bellvue the director is waiting patiently for them to park the car and get out before he lays into them. As they approach Robbie can see that he is mad.

"What part of to the funeral home and back did you NOT understand?"

Rick just stands there with a dumbfounded look on his face. He started to raise his hand to get the directors attention but Robbie intervened.

"Sir, what seems to be upsetting you?" Robbie asked with his Haitian accent.

"You know exactly what's wrong Mr. Labbe! I specifically told you to go to the funeral service and nowhere else. Yet I find that the car was in Brooklyn. Care to explain?"

"Sir, I was following your orders. We attended the funeral services. Where I come from that means the wake and the burial. We never deviated from your instructions."

The director looks at him and his face turns beet red.

"You knew exactly what I meant. Brooklyn was not to be a destination."

"Well, sir you should have clarified that. No matter he is back safe and sound."

"Did he interact with anyone?"

"No sir, just lil ole me!"

"Fine, get him back to his room and strap him in for the day after that you are dismissed until tomorrow morning."

"Yes, sir."

Robbie takes Rick's arm once more and leads him back to his room. He gets him out of his suit and hangs it back in the garment bag. Robbie spins to see that Rick is already lying on his bed ready to be strapped in with the Velcro restraints. Robbie reluctantly secures Rick. He wonders why this man is here. He is clearly not a threat to anyone. But before Robbie can think another thought Rick grabs his arm before he straps him in. He startles a bit but looks into his eyes and sees compassion in them. Rick takes his free hand and taps his left chest.

"What is it, Rick?"

Rick does this once more before he lays his arm down to be strapped in.

"There's something you want to give me?"

Rick raises his hand again and touches his finger to his nose telling Robbie that he's right.

"YOUR JACKET POCKET!" Robbie yells

Again Rick touches his nose and grins a little at the outburst then lowers his arm to be strapped in.

"I'll get it before I return the suit." He says as he straps him in. Robbie gives him a one eyed wink which to his surprise Rick returns. He retreives the suit from the closet and leaves without looking back.


	5. Chapter 5

Robbie waited until he was at least 4 blocks from Bellevue before he looked for Rick's message. He did not want prying eyes to read whatever Rick had entrusted to him. Dropping the suit at the dry cleaners he accepted the sales ticket with the date to pick it up printed on the bottom. Whatever Rick gave to him he decided to wait until he got home before reading it. But that did not stop his mind from wandering. What he wrote was short and written with little thought. Or it could be just 2 or 3 words. Still, he wondered.

Slipping his key into the apartment that he lovingly shared with his two children, he hears laughter from behind the closed door. Sure his children and much older now but they still were each other's best friends. His son just turned 19 and his daughter will be 17 soon. He loves them dearly but misses her terribly. He came from Haiti and while the story is the same for most of the men and women from his country everyone was looking for a better life. Only he had found his. He went a step further. He worked constantly sometimes with only 4 hours of sleep when he worked 3 jobs two full-time and one part-time. It was not until he landed the job at Bellevue when he was able to stop working the third part time job. His earnings from Bellevue more that made up for the part-time job he left. They were able to purchase a home in Queens Village that allowed the to live like they never could in Haiti. That was until she got sick. His wife Fabiola was diagnosed with a rare strain of malaria. They had been back to visit her mother and father and she was bitten by a mosquito carrying a form malaria or combination of other deadly diseases. She had played it off as working too hard and was always tired at the end of working her two jobs. Until one morning she was hard to wake.

They sat in the hospital waiting room and waited. He needed to keep his mind occupied with his children so he made a game out of it. The one game they played to pass the time was charades. Later in the day the doctor had come to him and told him that her health had taken a turn for the worse. After her initial diagnoses, she had now slipped into a coma. The only thing that te doctors could do for her was to keep her comfortable. They did and suggested that he find a long term care facility that could look after her needs. He collected his children and left the hospital with the task of finding a facility for his wife.

As he was making calls he received an incoming call that crushed whatever hope he had left. During his phone calls, she had passed away never regaining consciousness. Now he had different calls to make. She had been gone for 5 years now and he hoped that he was the one who passed instead of her. He turns the key in the lock and opens the door. His daughter sees him first. " Papa, w ap lakay ou!"

"Se mwen menm ki yon ti kras." Robbie replies.

"Now little one what have I told you about English?

"Use it as our first language." She tells him.

"That's my girl. How was your day?"

"I am still trying to study for my chemistry final. Want to help me?"

"Vanessa, you know that I am terrible at anything that has to do with science."

"You could try, right?"

"And put you further behind in your studies? I think not."

Robbie turns to his son who he knows has been struggling with the right school to attend.

"Jude, have you narrowed down your choices for the college you want to attend?"

"This is not easy, Papa. There are two colleges that really I like, but only one offers the courses I need to complete my degree. And I don't like the idea of being so far from home to attend."

"So, then the choice is clear. Select the college that gives you what your mind needs to grow and expand." Robbie gives him the best advice he can.

"I'll think about it, papa."

"Children I am going to my room for a while to rest. Vanessa, please start dinner with your brother and I will be back to help."

"Papa, is anything the matter?"

"No child I just need to relax that's all. Today was a hard day for me."  
"Papa?"

Vanessa, it's okay. A patient I know had to attend his mother's funeral this morning. The lord called her to his side."

"That's very sad Papa. Are you okay?"

"Just a little tired. Go start dinner, I'll be fine."

"Okay, papa. Go and rest. We will call when dinner is ready." Vanessa tells him.

Robbie spins on his heel and leaves them to start dinner. He enters his bedroom, closes the door. As he does, it feels like the note in his pocket is burning a hole right through it. He pulls it out of his pocket and he looks at his hand trembling and then unfolds it to reveal quite a long message. The deposit slip is filled with writing on both sides. He never imagined Rick had the time to fill up both sides since he was finished so quickly.

 _Robbie,_

 _In all my time that I have been in this place, no one has shown any compassion that you have towards me. I consider you a friend. A friend that I hope will help me in my journey. As I hope by now, you must know that I am not a threat to anyone. I was misdiagnosed and had medication after medication crammed down my throat for no good reason. But that's a story for another time. I desperately need your help. I can only do so much from inside these four walls. There is a detective with the NYPD who's life is in grave danger. She will be killed if I can't save her. I know that this might sound crazy, but I have a "connection" with this woman. It's a strong connection even though we have never met. I did see her when she was a little girl of six or seven. I can't explain it but I know it to be true. I'd give my life for her! If you are willing to help me, the next time we meet just wink your left eye at me twice. Thank you!_

 _Sincerely,_

 _Richard Rogers._

Robbie was beside himself. He knew that Rick was not unstable, frankly, he was the total opposite, but he had trouble believing his story. But what he said about him giving his life for this detective's made him think about his own wife and how he would give anything to do that, only if he had a second chance. So with reserve, he considered his request.

"Papa, dinner is ready." Vanessa called out drawing Robbie from his musings." "Coming." Was his only response.

Xx

Because the day for Rick had been so draining emotionally, he had decided to forgo a trip to the office to gather more information about Kate Beckett. He still had time before he was destined to save her. But he did not want to jeopardize this by escaping from his room causing him to be caught. She was that important to him. He hears a bang on his door and can only guess that it's William. Seconds later his face appears in the small vertical safety window. He turns his head away from him looking instead at the wall opposite him. William moves on and Rick finally falls into a deep dreamless sleep. The next morning he wakes to the smell of freshly brewed coffee. Opening his eyes he sees Robbie standing next to him with two steaming cups of the hot liquid.

"Good morning Rick!" Robbie says once Rick's eyes focused on him. He never noticed him enter his room. Robbie looks at him places the cups on the small table and starts to unfasten his bindings. He picked up the coffee cups and gives one to Rick with a sly smile. Rick accepted the coffee with appreciation. They clink the cups against each other in a type of toast. Rick has not had real coffee in... well he can't even remember when he had a decent cup last. Robbie sits down on the bed next to him. Not knowing how to proceed he thinks it's best if he just starts with his hesitation about Rick's request.

"Rick, I gave your request a lot of thought and I need some answers. How do you know that this detective will die?"

Rick considers his question. He thinks that this will be hard to explain since he does not want to speak, he always could he just decided not to. So he points to his head. And then points to his heart. Robbie waits before speaking to make sure he has all the clues. Rick then raises his arm as if to cradle a rifle and his index finger mimics pulling the trigger.

"You think that she's smart and that she will have a heart attack?"

Rick shakes his head no. He then replays the last gesture. This time pulling the imaginary trigger many times to get his point across. Robbie ventures another guess and thinks he has it.

"A person with a gun will try to kill her?"

Rick nods yes and his look is sad. With this new information, Robbie is second guessing his participation in this endeavor. Could he possibly die as well? Then he notices Rick giving him another clue. He points to his heart repeatedly. Then points to a watch if he were wearing one.

"The shooter will aim for her heart?"

Rick simply touches his nose. Then he again taps his wrist where a watch would be. Robbie looks at the gesture but comes up empty. This would be so much easier if he had a pen and a pad of paper, but it was like entering Fort Knox just to bring him a cup of coffee and ask to talk with him. Rick repeats the motion again. Robbie rubs his hand down his face in frustration. He regroups and starts again.

"Time?"

Rick nods yes again.

"Time, Time, hmm, this will be happening soon?"

Rick nods no. But adds to the tapping of his wrist the motion of long with his arms spread apart.

"Okay, in a long time then?"

He nods yes. Then he looks to the wire meshed safety glass window. The bars on the outside of the window give him an idea. He walks over to the window and drags Robbie with him. He places him in front to the window and points down to the hospital grounds. Robbie sees the grass and that's about it. He does see the landscaping crew cutting the grass, though.

"Lawn mowers? Landscaping men? Green? Tree? Bushes?" he was lost in what Rick wanted to tell him.

Rick taps his shoulder and points again but this time, points past the men working on the grounds. Robbie sees that far off in the distance there are headstones designating the hospital's cemetery.

"Rick I know you told me that she was gong to die. Why point to a cemetery if she's not dead yet?" Rick thought for a second.

Rick rushes over to his bed pulls out the pillow from its case and comes back. He crouches down as if to hide. Makes a small arching motion with his arms and drapes the pillow case over his head as if it were a hoodie hiding his face. Robbie watches his actions. Thinking again he says

"The shooter is small? Or he is hiding?"

Rick holds up 2 fingers and touches his nose.

"Okay, so he's hiding. Where, where could he be hiding. Hmm.

Rick points again to the cemetery hoping that he gets it now. He walks back to the bed and waits for him to put the pieces together. Then it's like a lightbulb goes off over his head. Robbie walks back to Rick and sits again.

"She will be shot in a cemetery by the sniper?

Rick nods. Robbie needs to know how this woman has such a hold on him. Why he singled her out to save her.

"Rick, why do you have such a pull towards this woman?"

Rick has only one gesture for him to show him. He raises both hands and curls his fingers against each other and connects his thumbs together pushing them down completing a heart.

"How can you love someone you have never met? Or even seen longer than a quick glance?"

Just as Rick was going to gesture him an answer, the director swings the door open and walks in.

"Mr. Rodgers, I think that this little visit is over. Say goodbye to him Mr. Labbe. You have well overstayed your welcome here. I am disappointed with you Mr. Labbe. You know that Mr. Rodgers is only allowed one visitor and she's dead now. So by the time I turn my back after speaking to Mr. Rodgers you will not be in this room...correct?"

"Yes, sir.' Robbie replied, but before turning away he looked Rick directly in the eyes and winked his left eye twice. Rick just grinned back at him in silent thanks.

"So Mr. Rodgers, what did the two of you talk about?"

Yeah, the director was going to pay for the comment about his mother, he'd make sure of it. But instead, Rick just shrugged his shoulders and gave the director a dumbfounded look really pissing him off.

"Mr. Rodgers, I know that you will eventually tell me what the two of you talked about."

Rick just shakes his head no.

"No matter, later today we are going to escort you down to my office and there are some papers that require your signature. I'd like to thank you in advance for the generous donation you are giving us!"

It had been a long time since he had done it, and he knows that it's not a nice thing to do, but the situation calls for it. Rick elevates his left arm extends his hand towards the director and raises his middle finger right in his face.

"Ahh Mr. Rodgers, we'll see just who fucks who here!"

The director walks out of his room without another word.


	6. Chapter 6

Robbie Labbe was no stranger to what was happening between Rick and the director. He was also very familiar of how the director had absconded the patients savings. It's almost like an everyday occurrence. Add the fact that Richard Rodgers mother had just passed away he was looking to make his bank account even larger. He listened at the door and could not believe that the director had basically told Rick that he was going to take everything he had. And he was helpless to do anything about it. No, this would never happen. He would do anything in his power to stop it if he had the chance to.

Hearing the director turn and leave Robbie was good at one more thing. Hiding in plain sight. He quickly moves away to the nurses desk and keeps his head down feigning the imaginary report he was reading. The director had only told him to leave Rick's room and nothing else so he was not being insubordinate. He watched as the director had left Rick's room and turned in the opposite direction of his office. Now he had his chance. Rick was quickly becoming his friend and he could not see him losing everything his mother had left him. He made his way to the director's office and walked in. His secretary thank god was at lunch which made his quest that much easier.

Walking into the director's office he looked at the desk. Messy at that, he wondered how he did his job with so much clutter. He read most of the papers sprawled out on the desk and what he was looking for was not there. He started rifling through the file cabinets for what he was hoping would be there. He was amazed when he found Rick's file. As he opened it, the outer office door was opened. He moved to the inner door of the directors office and peered out into the front office. The directors secretary had just returned back from lunch and was starting to sit at her desk to finish the rest of the work day. He had some time to look if he was quiet. So he opened Rick's file folder and was starting to read.

"Oh my good lord." Robbie exclaimed silently to himself.

He started at the reading at the beginning of Rick's initial tests. They were altered to suit the hospital's needs showing him that he was suffering from mutism coupled with being catatonic. He was subjected to many, many electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) sessions and the result was the same every time. He was also given by force Lorazepam, Zolpidem, Memantine and other schizophrenia associated drugs. No matter how many times they performed these needless tests and treatments the result was always the same outcome : Normal. They found no reason for him to be so withdrawn from society. Also in the right side of the file was a letter that the attending doctor had sent to the director stating that there was no reason to keep him here at all. The letter to Martha Rodgers outlining Rick's diagnoses was never sent, instead filed with all the other useless information they had collected on him over the years.

He flipped through the rest of the file and he finished the right side of the folder. Looking to the left side he hit pay dirt. There in front of his eyes was the documents that the director wanted him to sign. The only thing that the director needed was Rick's signature. The forms were already notarized and witnessed without his signature even on the form. Robbie froze when the secretary's phone rang and he listened and from what he heard of the one-sided conversation was that the director was heading back to his office. He quickly snatched the pre-notarized, and illegally signed document from its place in the folder and put it inside his jacket pocket. Placing the file back into the cabinet he closed the file cabinet door. He started to jingle a set of hospital issued car keys loudly. This got the attention of the secretary and she left her desk to investigate what the noise was.

Deloris opened the directors door and was startled when entering, seeing Mr. Labbe sitting in the directors guest chair in front of his desk.

"Mr. Labbe? What's the meaning of this?"

"Yes, Mrs. Foss. What seems to be the problem?" Robbie asks innocently.

"Mr. Labbe, I should be asking why you are here in the director's office unattended."

"Oh, that. Well, I was attending to Mr. Rodgers and the director told me that the hospital's car keys were missing. I told that I had them because I drove Mr. Rodgers to his mother's funeral yesterday and forgot to return them."

"That poor woman. It's such a tragedy her sudden death. You know I watched a performance of hers once. She was quite exquisite. I even think she won a Tony for her performance in that role."

"Yes, your right Mrs. Foss. She was taken from us far too soon. However, life does go on. I think Mr. Rodgers is taking her death very hard."

They are both silent for a couple of seconds reflecting on the woman and her life.

"Well Mr. Labbe, I see no reason to stay until the director arrives. I'm sure that you can entrust the car keys to me and I will return them to the director when he returns. I'm sure that you have a very busy day ahead of you."

"True, so very true. Thank you, Mrs. Foss. I'd appreciate it greatly. Now if you don't mind I'll be on my way."

"Very well Mr. Labbe. Enjoy the rest of your day!"

"I will and thank you again." Robbie says as he leaves.

Robbie was never so scared in his life. All he needed to happen was the director come in when he was standing in the middle of his office. He knew Mrs. Foss. She was absent-minded and she was not the sharpest tool in the shed. She would just return the keys back to the director and that would be the end of it. She'd never mention that he was waiting for him in his office. He moved away from the clerical area and hoped he did not pass the director walking away. He gets to his section of the hospital and he is in the office looking for his next assignment.

Xx

Rick was thinking about how he could fake being sick to get out of these documents the director wanted him to sign. He needed to think. The sick excuse would not really work because the director was just with him not too long ago. So that was out. He was re-strapped to the bed by William and he was very good at his job. Rick could hardly move his arms. So trying to get out of his bindings himself was out as well. He closed his eyes and wished for a miracle. Then his miracle opened the door. Robbie entered and looked over at Rick. Rick's eyes shot open and he gave Robbie an ear to ear grin. Robbie quickly walked over to Rick's bedside.

"Rick, I have news."

Rick motioned to his straps and was silently asking Robbie to set him free. But as he did this Robbie just stood there, so Rick looked at the expression on his face. And all it showed was sorrow.

"Rick, listen. There is a good reason why I'm not releasing you right now. I have something to show you." He withdraws the document from his inside jacket pocket. He unfolds it for Rick to see. Holding it above his head, Rick starts to read and his eyes go wide at what the director has done. His mother left him just under 31.5 million dollars. He knew she was extravagant but this was insane. He read further and his entire estate was to be given to the hospital. His mother in addition to the cash had real estate holdings as well. She owned an acting studio on So-Ho, an apartment building with 6 apartments, and her own home on East 14th street between second and third avenues. Now he's livid. He needed to do something to stop this from happening.

Robbie noticed the deflated look on Rick's face and asked:

"Rick, what is it?"

Rick could only motion a signing gesture with his hand and Robbie started to shake his head wildly.

"Rick, you don't seem to understand. I took the original document from your file. There is no other copy. I have the original." Robbie smiled as he said this.

Rick had a questionable look on his face.

"Don't you see Rick, without this document the director can't take your inheritance." Robbie says gleefully.

Rick strains his right arm against the straps as Robbie looks at this he understands that he want's his arm free. Robbie unfastens his restraint and Rick gives him a sign that he is hitting something with his fist.

"Punching, hitting, slamming, striking?" Robbie guesses.

Rick touches his finger to his nose.

"Striking?" Rick nods yes. Then points to his robe hanging on the hook.

"Door, doorknob, bathrobe, hook?

Rick holds up three of his fingers.

"Bathrobe?" Robbie is really lost now until Rick holds his thumb and index finger close together and again points to the bathrobe.

"Bath? Or Robe?"

Rick holds up two fingers. Robbie thinks for a second and quickly puts it together.

"Judge, courts, Ah ha, a lawsuit?"

Rick touches his nose twice.

"I think that we will need some more evidence, don't you? But it's not like we won't find it because the director has been doing this for a very long time. So the next step is and I don't want to know how you do it but we need to gather a lot more information on this detective of yours. My son can run her name on Google and we can see what comes up.

Rick starts to shake his head forcibly. Now he has an idea. He holds his right hand up and extends his hand into the thin air and starts to write in the air. As he starts to write Robbie watches him intently.

TO DANGEROUS FOR YOU.

He looks at Rick's face for confirmation. It's there. So he takes his hand and compassionately and tells him that he want's to do this. Rick once again shakes his head even more vigorously this time. Robbie pats his hand and tells him that he won't risk it. Then he asks Rick:

"Rick, has your vision of this detective become more evident in your mind? I mean can you see her a little clearer?"

He closes his eyes and simply shakes his head yes.

"Rick, being that you have this connection with her, my guess is that these visions will only get stronger to where you can actually feel that you are physically there with her in your mind."

Rick looks at him with concern and Robbie picks up on it immediately.

"Rick, I'm going to let you in on a secret. Now don't sign anything until I'm finished... Okay?" Rick gives him the thumbs up. Robbie continues.

"Black magic can be used for either good or evil in my culture. It depends on the person who's using it and what they want to do with it. Now, while Clairsentience and Claircognizance are similar in doing the same thing in themselves but in a way they both are very different. Black magic is not associated with these gifts, but at one time my people thought they were."

Rick nods to show he understands.

"If I'm right, these visions you're having will get so strong they might really start to drive you crazy. Don't worry, I know of these gifts, you see my mother had them and was able to see so much for different events from a young age. At first, people did not believe her but after many of her visions came true, people started to believe what she saw. Now I think that while those two gifts I mentioned before are powerful, you have the gift of Clairvoyance. Tell me something, do you see like short movies in your head when a vision of her appears?"

Rick shakes his head yes again.

"And in this one vision, her life is in danger?"

Another yes from him.

"So you see her getting shot? And can you see the aftermath of her shooting?"

This time, Rick shakes his head no.

"Alright, Rick. These visions will become stronger showing what happens after she is shot the closer the event comes in time. So try to remember everything from it."

Rick nods again.

"Now as for our mutually hated friend... I know a lawyer who can help. He is very good in this type of law. Do you want me to get in touch with him?"

Rick raises his right hand and offers it to Robbie to shake. Robbie shakes it as he smiles. He replaces the document back into his pocket and refastens Ricks hand back into the strap.

"Rick, don't worry, the director will get what's coming to him."


	7. Chapter 7

Kathryn Houghton Beckett was a by the book, no nonsense, honest cop. She believed in the everyday joys of what life presented to the world. While she was dedicated to her job she rarely had the time to experience these joys when they were offered. It's the one thing she wished she could change. Her life had taken a turn for the worse when her mom was murdered. But she dealt with it. She promised that she would not investigate her death for fear that there was something much larger at play here.

She had thought about looking into it once again but after getting nowhere five years ago when she was just a rookie, nevertheless she thought her mental health was far more important than being sucked down into a place from which she would never return from. This was the way she wanted it. Her father was the one man she could look up to. He was strong and he always told her the truth. Sure he accepted her passing with anguish, bitterness, and heartache, but for his daughter, he had only shown worry for her life moving forward. And for good reason. His daughter had lost the one person in her life that could help her navigate the ups and downs of her own life.

During this time they had many talks about the health of their father/daughter relationship and still do to this day. Some were heated, while some were compassionate and soul searching. Still, their talks always come back to how much they missed her, how they both noticed her presence in small references of everyday life. Even though she was gone, she was still with them in a way. For them it was therapeutic. More help to each other than any highly paid headshrinker could offer. Her father decided that shortly after his wife's passing that he would immerse himself in his work. He would be the steady pillar for his daughter and honor his wife. He worked almost non-stop knowing that if he had idle time he would do something that he would regret later. He kept his busy schedule because if he slowed even a little, he would stumble and fall. He only had enough time at the end of the day to give his daughter a quick call to find out how her day had gone, and then while doing that he would make something to eat essentially killing two birds with one stone. After his meal was done he'd clean up, look over anything important for the next workday and then go to bed.

Xx

Kate had a long and tiring day. The case that was assigned to them this morning was reminiscent of her mom's case. Briefly, she wanted to dive back into her mom's case and give her the closure that the department couldn't. But then she thought back to one of her mother's idioms.

" _Katie, sometimes in life the weak will stumble and fall, and the rich become more powerful. Each taking advantage of the other. It's up to you to decide where justice should be delivered."_

She remembers the day her mom told her this. Her mom was driving her to the airport for her flight to California to attend her first year at Stanford. She often thinks if there was one thing she could change to stop her mom from being murdered, she'd gladly do it. Maybe if she attended another school, or even took a year off before going to school who knows. Still, she glows as she recalls the memory. Stamping down the urge to dive back into the case she goes about her apartment and simply lives her life. Her stomach grumbles and she finally realizes that she had nothing to eat for breakfast.

She opens the cabinet and pulls down a box of linguine and fills a pot with water. Setting it on the stove to boil she searches for a jar of red sauce. Depositing the contents in another pot the fridge is her next target. Sunday she made home made Italian meatballs. Her father loved them. So she takes the meatballs and sets them in the oven to warm up. Less than 30 minutes later she sits down to a hot and tasty looking dinner. As she eats her thoughts drift to a dream that she has been having repetitively for the last couple of months. Sometimes she wakes in a cold sweat, and other times she never wakes. The dream always ends the same.

She and her mother are walking down the sidewalk and they were holding each other's hands. He mom wanted to go to Alexanders department store to shop for a new spring dress. They walked along the storefront and while her mom was busy window shopping, Katie had ventured a look out into the traffic waiting for the light to change. She was mesmerized at what she was seeing. In a car waiting for the light to change to green was an older boy with azure blue eyes and dirty brown hair staring right at her. As she looked hopelessly into his eyes there was a connection between them that was so strong she could not look away if she tried. The longer she looked at him the more she felt like he was telling her his life story without even speaking. She had a feeling that they were meant to meet at this place and time. She was drawn to him. He made her feel safe. To her, it looked like his world was so closed off. In the seconds she kept him in her sight, it seemed like he told her his whole life story in less than 5 seconds.

He was all alone. He was vibrant, funny, caring, smart, and compassionate. But the feeling that he projected the most was that he had some insight into the future. Their future. Her mom tugged her hand and then she looked away breaking the contact. Her mom stopped only about 2 feet further along the storefront and when she turned to look at him again, the car was already gone. Recently she has been having longer dreams of him. He is no longer the boy she looked at that day long ago, but now a grown man. It seemed that he was trying to save her from something or someone. All she can remember from her dream is that he is an open field and he is lying on the grass, his eyes tightly shut closed. These are the times when the dream ends and she wakes up in a cold sweat.

Deciding a long hot bath with her favorite bath oils would ease the tension from the day, she collects her dirty dishes and loads them into the dishwasher. Retreating to her bedroom she strips out of her soiled clothes and drops them in the hamper. Turning to the bathroom she places the rubber stopper in the drain and starts the water. Adjusting the water to be a bit on the warmer side she adds her coconut bath oil to the water. The aroma from the oil has her wanting to slip into the tub right now. The tub is at its limit and she turns off the water. Slipping into the tub she feels her muscles relax and the day's events from earlier ease away.

After a long and relaxing soak, she maneuvers the steel ring of the rubber stopper into her big toe and gives it a tug. The water quickly drains and before she has the chance to get cold, her towel is wrapped around her body. She takes one last look at the items she brought in with her and decided that Patterson's copy of The 6th Target can stay there until her next soak. Tuning off the lights she drops off her towel in favor of a pair of boyshorts and a worn t-shirt. Sliding into bed she is fast asleep forgetting the day that just ended.

The alarm chimed as it did every day. She swatted at it until it's chimes went silent. Rubbing the sleep out of her eyes she threw the comforter off her body and walked into her kitchen. Getting everything ready for her morning caffeine jolt, she started the coffee maker and went to shower. She steps in and relishes the hot water cascading down her body waking her instantly. And as soon as it starts it's over. Drying off, her nose is aware of the aroma that spills through the apartment. Selecting her best power suit that she needs to wear to give the notification to the family that has lost a loved she has to talk to, she dresses.

Her day is moving along very quickly. She has given the terrible news to Mr. O'Brien that his wife was lost to a brutal murder. She glances at her watch and notices that it's almost noon. She is deciding to either go out and get something or order in. Deciding that she'll buy today she asks Ryan and Espo what they want. The choice is uncontested. Ordering in it is. She places a call to the local pizza joint closest to the precinct. With any luck they will be eating by 12:30. Lunch arrives and they all head to the break room to sit and eat.

"Beckett, how is your dad doing these days? It seems like it's been a lifetime since we've seen him last." Ryan asks to start a conversation.

"He's doing good Kevin. Busy as usual." She replies.

They finish their lunch in silence. Kate is a very private and the boys know when not to ask her anything about her life outside the precinct. This is one of those times. Lunch is over and they start working hard on Mrs. O'Brien's case. This case reminds her so much of her moms that it's shocking to her. She was murdered in an appearance similar to how her mother was murdered. The only difference was that she was found in the hallway of a friends apartment building, and there were no deep penetrating wounds to her kidney.

By 3:30 they have a solid suspect. And after an interrogation by herself and Esposito they had arrested Mateo Lopez. They found out that an up and coming gang had planned to initiate it's newest member. He was actually sent to scare the crap out of Mrs. Dundorff in apartment 4D. Then that would be the end of his initiation. However, when he reached the top of the stairway he was the one who suddenly had the crap scared out of him when he caught the sight of Mrs. O'Brien walking towards him in a rush. He had mistaken her for Mrs. Dundorff and when Mrs. O'Brien turned away after she noticed the knife he had advanced on her and stabbed her 4 times. She died right there in front of her friend's door. Mateo just stood there not moving. Mrs. Dundorff hearing the commotion in the hallway peeked through her peephole. She only had time to see Mateo start for the stairway and leave. Opening the door she was met with her friends slumped body. As she dials 9-1-1 she kneels down to her friend and tries to comfort her seeing that it's the only thing she can do for her. As Ruby O'Brien left this world, all she knows in her heart is that when she left it she was at peace with someone who cared about her.

Esposito and Ryan had left about an hour ago. She volunteered to file the paper work for the O'Brien case and now it was nearing 7pm. Rechecking the report one last time she sees that there are no mistakes and prints out the completed DD-5. Shutting down her computer she watches as her screen fades to a black screen almost hypnotized by the process. She looks down from her screen to her arms resting on the edge of her desk and she feels a slight twinge at both of her wrists. The longer she looks, the stronger this twinge becomes. Absentmindedly she rubs them to release the phantom feeling that surrounds them. Thinking about opening a cold case just to see if she can find something new that someone might have overlooked, she heads down to the archives. Soon, she has the file of an 8-year-old female that was found lying in a pool of her own blood in Tribeca's Bogardus Park. Her case had been cold for 6 years now, with no suspects known so she switched her desk lamp and started to read...


	8. Chapter 8

Frustration, annoyance, disgust, and any one of these emotions not kept in check either separately or combined will most definitely lead a person to a fit of rage. Everyone has a breaking point and he was way past his. Though he was an expert at hiding his rage, William Bracken could see the finish line that lies ahead of him not too far in the distance. He had made many a move to become virtually untouchable. He had threatened, bribed, and paid off a certain group of selected individuals whom he trusted as informants within the NYPD, DA's office, and of course city hall. He also had a similar group of men in DC when he won the seat he currently holds as Senator of New York. These groups were all there to take care of all the bothersome activities he would rather forget about. Of course, he knew about everything that happened once his order was given, but once the situation had been dealt with, he forgot about it without a single concern. Their agreement together was very lucrative. People were paid generously. He did, however, insulate himself well from the mundane operations that he had no control over once he had initiated the order to have the strike team or solo assassin fulfill his wishes thus keeping his hands clean.

He knew long ago in the smallest part of his psyche that having Johanna Beckett dealt with was going to come back and haunt him. When he looked at it then it was practically a good decision. Until he found out that she was given more than she bargained for. She was introduced to more information from Joe Pulgatti than he had originally thought. He spilled his guts. Though he was generic about the names of the people involved, he still needed to be dealt with. Not only did he profess his innocence about the murder he was charged with, he had also given her information about who was moving all of his drugs in through Washington Heights and then the city. Bracken was named but Pulgatti used his alter ego to identify him. He called him the Dragon. Not soon after his admission to cleanse his soul for whatever purpose, a guard on his payroll called informing him of the latest conversation between the two. After their meeting in the visitors lounge, Pulgatti never made it back to his cell. He was shanked in the laundry room and left to bleed out like a side of beef on the floor.

Bracken had a heart. He really did. He gave Mrs. Beckett her last Christmas with her family before he dealt with her. He waited until after the new year to issue the contract on her life. He had heard about a new assassin lurking in the shadows looking for a way onto his payroll. His record was actually very impressive. He had over 26 kills most involving close quarter combat on this continent alone. His kills across the world were staggering. He was superior in the details involving personal and up close contracts. He was only so-so using a long rifle. So deciding to admit a new member into his fold he gave Coonan the task of eliminating Mrs. Beckett.

He chose the early evening for his attack. The cover of the dusk being used to his advantage. He watched from the corner of the opposite building as she collected her personal items from around her office, turning off the lights for the small office spaces as she does. Shrugging on her coat she buttons it up and ties the sash in a knot and locks up the front door to the office.

He was dressed in the clothes of a vagrant. He sat there on the older Belgium block left from a century ago that was the foundation for the alley and most of lower Manhattan. Littered with old newspapers and something that looked like mashed potatoes and a half eaten steak that missed the dumpster belonging to the diner behind him, he watched her as she passed the opening to the alley. Once she had noticed him she slowed her pace and looked at him with pity. When he raised his head to look at her she promptly looked back to the path that was before her and walked on. He jumped up and followed her, staying a safely undetectable distance behind her. She must have quickly forgotten about him by the way she was weaving and evading other city citizens in her path. He walks three paces behind her now waiting for the opportune moment to strike. He is all set to initiate his attack until she does something that nonpluses him. She turns right and starts towards the entrance to an alley about three blocks from where he first noticed her. She walks into the alley and as she does he notices her slowing her pace once again, looking up to a faded advertisement painted on the alley wall. **ALDO'S! The best Italian food on the west side!** He thinks a small laugh escapes from her as she looks once again towards the approaching side street but the wind whisks away any other sounds she might have released.

He is quick upon her. So fast that she never hears his noiseless approach. Knowing that he needs to suppress any type of scream or cry for help, he positions his large frame behind her and with his nondominant left arm he halts her walk pulling her back by wrapping it around her neck. Having her in a choke hold gives him the advantage. He is using his body to keep her immobile. She drops her briefcase during her attempt to struggle free and as she does he thrusts the blade of his special forces knife deep into her right kidney. He twists the knife and as he removes it, he slides the blade easily through her warm skin and moves the retreating blade to his right, severing the renal artery. Seeing that the fight she had when he started this is just about gone, he is left with holding up her sagging body. He easily transfers her weight from the left arm to the right one.

Taking the knife into his left hand he mimics the same trauma to her left kidney. Knowing that certain death will claim her shortly she tries to whisper out a parting passage. He does not hear her, so he carefully sits her down against the end of the dumpster and looks into her eyes. Again she whispers and he leans in to make sense of her statement.

" _My family is waiting for me at Aldo's. I needed to see them. Why did you..."_

The rest of her sentence crumbles apart unstated. Her hand clenched in a fist gathered in the lapel of his coat loosens and falls to her side. He looks into her eyes that now hold no signs of life. Empty, he thinks to himself. He peppers her body quickly with superficial light stab wounds all over her midsection and back to cover his main blade work. At first, it will look like all the wounds attributed to her death. He knows that the ME that will be assigned her case in on Bracken's payroll. So he is not that overly concerned that there will be an in-depth investigation into how she was murdered. Finishing his handy work he positions her body to give her some self-respect. He places her into the angle between the dumpster and the concrete wall leans her against it as not to have her fall to the ground. He places her hands in her in her lap and tucks her legs underneath each other. He finishes and as he gets up to leave he notices her briefcase is not far from her. He picks it up and searches through its contents. Most of the information is pertinent to her job until he flips through the last file folder. It's a file that she requested through the NYC Supreme court. It's still sealed in plastic meaning she never had the chance to view it. He takes it before he changes his mind. It might be worth something to Bracken in the near future.

He gets up and makes the short trek to the street. Turning left, his lips partially curl into a slight grin. He has a thought. As he walks on he knows that the walk out of the way will only cover his trail that much more. He deposits his K-bar and the now sweaty latex gloves each at different city trashcans three blocks away from each other. Turning once again to head back towards the Hudson river on 14th street he slows as he approaches Aldo's. He's still dressed as a vagrant so he stares into the front window of the eatery, feigning his begging for food. He scans the patrons and as he does so, he eliminates the obvious ones. He has his sights set on two couples. An older woman and a man who could possibly be her brother. He dismisses this idea as his eyes settle on the second couple, a younger woman and middle aged man who keep observing their timepieces strapped to their wrists. They are her family. He stares until the young woman locks eyes with his and does not look away. She is tenacious, and driven even at this age. He takes one last look at them knowing that the pain they know nothing about right now, will be what greets them later tonight. He needs to unwind and plan his next three assignments. He's sure that with the results from fulfilling tonight's contract he will be awarded the next three. There was talk from Bracken that if tonight went well he'd receive the contracts for her colleagues at the Justice Initiative.

Reading the paper the next day right after her death he was surprised to see that she had a small article noting only her accomplishments during her pro-bono work defending the lost causes. Not the fact that she had spent her career working as a civil rights attorney.

Bracken remembers later that spring when he had his enforcer tidy up three other loose ends that needed to be silenced. Jenifer Stewart was murdered on May 21st, 1999 the same way Johanna was murdered. Diane Cavanaugh on March 7th, 1999 after leaving a friend's wedding on 65th and Amsterdam Ave. Scott Murray was taken on the same day only after Diane. He died in the same fashion in an area that was behind a bar and next to a taxi overflow area. Now all these years later he had called on his cunning asset once again. He had to eliminate Gary McCallister. As fate would have it he was locked up on Rikers facing a Class E felony for driving while intoxicated. Coonan had informed Bracken that he knew of an asset by the name of Lockwood that could carry out his order. His fee would be extensive since he was processed into the system and is currently on Rikers now. The job would be done and Bracken would be rid of another loose end. So he agreed to Coonan's associate executing this contract. To his surprise this was everything and so much more. After McCallister was eliminated he could finally see that all the inconvenient loose ends that have plagued him for so long were finally dissolving in front of his eyes.

Earlier in the week, he received word from one of his moles who had been in constant observation of John Raglin's home. His mole heard a gunshot and being the concerned private citizen that he was, he wanted to see what had happened. So he made his way across the street and onto the front steps. Peering through the front window he sees a body slumped over on the table in the kitchen.

Being it's the middle of the day he decides to enter through the rear of the home. He picks the lock with ease, some cops never learn that just because they are armed they don't necessarily have the upper hand. He enters and moves to the now stilled cop motionless covering the table. He sees that his weapon is still in his hand lying palm up on the table. With his eyes, he travels the length of his arm to his shoulder then landing on his head. He sees the wound. Small entry wound and most likely the exit wound in twice as large. He sees brain matter splattered all over the stove and cabinets. Taped from the range hood is a note scribbled hastily stating:

" _The big "C"! I'm not going to live through the next six months dying. So I'm taking control of my own end. God forgive me my sins."_

The note has no signature, but it's all self-explanatory if you read the note coupled with the medical file below the note on the stove, he had 5 months left to live. The results were dated 5 weeks ago. Slipping out the way he entered, he raised his I-phone and snapped a picture to show his boss that yet another loose end had rectified itself. He returns back to his car and drives away. He knows that his boss has one last loose end to take care of and he knows that to make sure he gets his message across it will be big. He now only has two more loose ends left to deal with and by the end of next week, his boss should be on the way to the White house.

Bracken holds onto his phone and as he rotates it with his fingers the image of John Raglin spins in the opposite direction, adjusting at every screen size. Stopping he checks his watch and gets up from his desk and places a call to his eyes and ears at the Montgomery household. He is told that the wife and two children are home, but Montgomery has yet to arrive. He thinks for a minute and advises his mole that after Montgomery arrives he is to set his role in this plan in motion. He watches as a car approaches and Bracken is still speaking, so trying not to be rude, his mole informed him that Montgomery is back home interrupting his speaking. The line goes silent for a second and before he can respond with anything, he hears Bracken say "do it now." Then the line really goes dead now. He reaches into his pocket and pulls out a small palm sized timer. It's a simple device and he sees the switch he needs to activate. He depresses the button and the timer resets itself from 28:41 all the way down to 1:30. He starts his car and casually shifts the car into drive and drives away. As he does he looks at the houses that line the street and can picture all the destruction that will occur in less than a minute and a half.

He's made it a safe distance away where he can easily still keep an eye on Montgomery and still survive the initial shock. He reaches for the timer and there are 9 seconds left. He cautiously sinks into the seat. In less than it takes the time to blink, Roy Montgomery and his family have been vaporized with 20 pounds of Semtex placed around the key living areas of his house by the cable repairman who paid Evelyn a visit last Tuesday. The mole calls Bracken to give him an update and he does. Bracken, in turn, asks to confirm that the method of elimination was successful. Through high-powered binoculars, he watches and waits. About two hours later he sits up at what has his attention through the spy glasses. The coroner walks behind a stretcher and behind him there are three more assistants pushing the same type of stretchers with three additional body bags atop them. He watches as they walk and the press is already circling trying to get a glimpse of the bodies as they are wheeled out. If it was not for the press he would have almost missed it. One of the children's arms slips from the unzipped body bag. He's sure that they are dead. Later after they are delivered back to the morgue they'll contact his eyes and ears there to confirm this.

Bracken hangs up from his informant after his confirmation. Now he has only one last loose end to deal with and with her he'll take his time planning how she is dealt with. There will be no screw ups with her demise. He has a partial plan in mind but he was given the name of a new assassin he goes by the name of Cole Maddox. He also has a line on a petite Russian who is a phenomenal asset with a knife. Even better then Coonan. She came highly recommended from Sergi Petrov so maybe he will decide after they both compete so he can see who is better equipped to handle this last job. All he knows for sure is that Kate Beckett's time is coming to a close very soon. Then he can set his sights on becoming the most powerful man in the country. At first, he will be the model President-elect. Passing important legislature protecting the great people of this country, reducing the spending, increasing employment, and finally, make American's proud to be just that once again... American's!

Call it what you will, a strange twist of fate, kismet, karma, or maybe even the unexplained. Whatever you call it, this unseen force was hard at work battling against our corrupt senator. He just can't see it. His attempts to silence Montgomery had taken him three times to accomplish. First, there was the failed communication in where he was going to be dealt with, at work or at home. Then the cable repair man was carjacked in midtown as he was going to set up Montgomery's home with the Semtex. The third time was the charm. Lockwood was sent to take out McCallister but before he was able to make his move, McCallister's appendix had burst and he spent a week and a half in the infirmary. Slowing Lockwood to a crawl. Raglin even though he had ended his own life making Bracken's life a little easier without not even knowing it, had his issues as well. The .38 snub-nosed revolver he had to end his life with was loaded with ammunition from before he retired. His first and second attempts ended in the hammer of the gun striking the shell casing primer but failed to fire. After he replaced the older ammunition with fresh rounds, only then was he able to finish his journey. Maybe this new assassin might be subject to the same karma... one can only theorize.

 **A/N: This chapter was necessary to show how ruthless Bracken is. It's needed for the upcoming chapters. This chapter does not follow the show in cannon. It's about AU as you can get.**


	9. Chapter 9

In the past two months, Robbie Labbe had been a very busy man. He and Rick had become better acquainted with each other. He was slowly understanding Rick's meanings for the signing he presented to him. Since they had become practically inseparable, Robbie had been given the responsibility of taking care of Rick during his stay here for the duration during the day by his boss. This angered the director to no end. Overnight was a different story altogether. Nights here were hell for Rick. Williams made him more of a target as directed by the director. It was his way of payback. And it didn't help that Williams loved to torture Rick. Rick's sanity was seriously hanging on by a thread. They had been communicating well and Robbie was understanding more and more when Rick signed his needs to him. Robbie had found an attorney that was willing to see Rick at Bellevue.

The lawyer quickly came up with a way to get the director off Rick's back for good. He had done a title search on the properties that were willed to Rick by his mother. After completing the search, he found that his mother did actually own all of the properties listed. That was the positive. She, however, neglected to pay taxes on each of the properties for the last two years. Since the city sends notices to the landowners for the first 5 years for collection purposes for the outstanding taxes the notice to repossess the properties takes a while longer. This was a negative for the city but it saved Rick. Since the properties had a tax lien on them the director could not sell any of these properties due to the outstanding taxes owed to the city. That was unless he wanted to foot the bill and settle the outstanding taxes. The taxes that were owed totaled about 397 thousand dollars for all the properties combined. Rick could pull the amount owed from his account in trust, but his lawyer told him that if he did then he would be wide open for the director to walk in and take these properties from him without a fight.

Rick had well over thirty-three million dollars now. This amount growing expansively since his mother passed away. This was now off limits to the director as well. Robbie had been named as a person whose signature would be needed as a failsafe as well as Rick's. Without it, no one else could access his account. So the director's hands were tied regarding Rick, his properties, and his liquid assets. Robbie had decided that one afternoon he would have his children visit him after their school day. Vanessa and Jude have been amazed at the corruption associated with the hospital by the director and the extent they went to keep Rick locked away for no good reason. They were wondering why the doctors kept Rick there against his will. So when their father asked if they wanted to see Rick, they both jumped at the chance to meet him.

Rick was very excited to meet Robbie's children. He had a lot of questions to ask them through Robbie. For him, it was like Christmas and his birthday all rolled into one. He was still strapped to his bed that was still bolted to the floor, but that would soon change. Rick kept an eye on the clock ever since Robbie had left to sign his children in at the front desk. They would be back any second. Robbie knocked softly on Rick's door. He raised his head showing Robbie that it was okay to enter his room. After Robbie entered his daughter and son followed behind him. The walked up to where Rick was lying on his bed and Vanessa let out a small gasp. She considered speaking to her father in their native Haitian but remembered to use English.

"Papa, why is he strapped to his bed?" Vanessa asked.

"Believe it or not, it's actually for his safety. But we'll fix that right now." Robbie walks over to Rick's bed and unfastens his restraints both at his wrists and ankles. Rick swings his legs over the side of the bed and places his feet firmly on the floor and stands up. He walks over to Vanessa and takes her hand raises it up bows and kisses her fingers. He then turns to Jude and extended his hand for a handshake. Jude returns his gesture with a vigorous shake. Rick feigns pain as he shakes his hand up and down. This causes a questioning look from Jude to his father.

"Papa, what's the matter with him, I didn't mean hurt him. I was gentle."

Rick stops waving his hand around. He turns to Robbie and he starts signing to him. At first, Robbie can't keep up with the signs Rick is throwing his way.

"Rick, slow down. Start slower this time and from the beginning."

Rick touches his hand to Jude's hand then to his heart. He then shows Robbie a closed fist and moves his fist in a circular motion on his chest. He also has a sad face showing. Robbie understands immediately.

"Jude, Rick is sorry to have made a joke of shaking your hand. He was just kidding around trying to break the ice so to say."

"Papa, why can't he talk?" Jude asked. Vanessa asked as well "Yes Papa why?"

"My children, he can speak, I think? It's just that with all the mindless babble going on in the world today he has decided to keep his voice to himself. We understand each other enough to have a beneficial conversation."

"Have you ever heard him say anything?" Vanessa asks.

"Not yet, but I think his muted voice will be loud one day soon."

Rick with Robbie's help translating, has a great conversation with his children. They catch on to Rick's gestures involving his signing and before long they are talking to him like they have been doing it longer than Robbie has. Soon the visiting hours are just about to end. Robbie sees that Rick's dinner tray being pushed through the door and that's their cue to leave. He can;t believe that they have been here for the last four hours. Robbie asks if Rick will be okay tonight knowing about Williams and his hazing at the order of the director. Risk replies by giving him a thumbs up sign and a smile. He waves goodbye to Jude and Vanessa and they leave for the night. Dinner is always the same. Some paste that resembles something brown. And tonight he actually has received a real treat, actual brussel sprouts, and lima beans. Ohh goodie, goodie!

Dinner is done and Williams returns to strap him in for the night. He sleeps for about 5 hours straight. He has his sharpened piece of metal and he carefully starts slicing through the Velcro strap at his right wrist. He is successful and before long he is free and heading for the door. He had to devise a new escape tactic. Since Williams has been hounding him at the director's request, he has placed a lumpy pillow and rolled up a blanket to resemble himself in the bed. Williams usually wakes him every 30 minutes after his 3 am break. Rick gets to the door and uses his "key" to pry open the door. He waits for Lawrence to turn the corner and he counts the square tiles to the office. Eying the clock at the end of the hallway he sees that he is earlier than previous nights he escaped which gives him more time to search the internet. He has a little under 3 hours if he plays it safe. He gently opens the door and enters the office. Booting up the desktop computer he adjusts the backlight to be a lot dimmer as to not make it so obvious that the machine is on.

He types Kathryn Beckett in the search box and he is relieved to find out that she is still alive. But he notices a link to her Captains name at the bottom of her latest article. There is no description for the link so he clicks on it. After it loads his face turns sheet white. The headline reads "12th Precinct Captain Roy Montgomery was killed in a freak gas explosion three days ago. The Captain and his family were at home when the gas main exploded leveling the house and damaging several other homes surrounding the Captains. A full FDNY investigation is now being conducted." He knows that whoever this "he" is, he is covering his tracks by eliminating all of his loose ends. And she's the last piece to this puzzle. In his dreams, he remembers a dark image of a large winged medieval flying creature. He surfs a little longer and he has found that two more loose ends have met the same fate as her Captain. Both were retired police detectives.

Rick retreats back to his room after deleting his internet history and returning the screen brightness to its original setting. Returning back to his room he re-straps himself back into his bed and then easily falls back to sleep. It's then when everything in his life takes a deep dark turn for the worse. His dream starts off with her vision in his subconscious. She is older than his last image he remembers of her. He remembers her last when she was a teenager. Now in his latest image, she has aged at least ten years. The images he sees now are flooding his brain, so many he starts to lose track of them in his mind. Soon he has a jumbled mini movie playing in his head. He sees the sniper is in a prone position taking aim at her from behind a headstone. She is standing next to another officer by the name of O'Bryan or O'Ryan, or maybe it's even just Ryan he can't be sure. They are whispering something to each other and he can't make it out. Then she salutes her Captains casket and she walks over to the podium and places her notes down and starts to read. His vision of her starts to fade as the gunshot rings out loud and he never sees if the bullet strikes her.

As Rick dreams his movie in his head, something is not right in his room as he sleeps. Williams, like clockwork, has entered the room to harass Rick as ordered by the director. As he gets closer to his sleeping form he notices something is very wrong. Rick's forehead is drenched in a cold sweat; his clothes are soaked as well. He is convulsing even though he is sound asleep. Every 5 seconds or so he sees Rick strain against the straps that secure him to the bed. In a panic, Williams leaves and rushes to the nurse's station to report what's going on in Rick's room. Wasting no time, the team of three is in his room and they are assessing his state of mind. His pupils are checked and react equally to light. His BP is checked as well as his heart rate and breathing. His body is fighting itself and they can't understand why. The nurse decides that they will just medicate him lightly to take the edge off until he calms down. She is about to administer the sedative only to stop when the door to his room swings open wide and hits the wall. Everyone looks up to see the director walking into Rick's room with another doctor in tow.

"Don't administer that drug, Nurse Grogan, and please step away. This is Doctor Harrison he will be taking charge of our young Mr. Rodgers here. It seems that he is in need of a new test subject for his latest breakthrough in Electro Shock Therapy. And it looks like Mr. Rodgers is a willing candidate."

The orderlies remove Rick from his bed and strap him to another gurney. They roll him out of his room and into Dr. Harrison's treatment room. The doctor is legally required to administer a sedative before he starts any type of ECT. Since the director is paying him handsomely to fry Rodger's brain, he forgoes the muscle relaxant. He straps the contact halo of electrodes to Rick's forehead and places the mouthguard very loosely into his mouth knowing that when the first jolt of current that runs through his body it will most likely snap his jaw shut at lighting speed breaking either his jaw or his teeth sending the mouth guard flying out of his mouth in the process. Checking everything one last time he flips the switch and the results are instant. Rodger's body convulses into a tightly knitted group of distorting muscles. The customary rate of voltage for a normal patient is between 180 volts and 460 volts for a duration of up to six seconds. Dr. Harrison decides to boost the voltage up to 650 volts and keeps the current running through his body for a full thirty seconds before he ceases the first stage of treatment.

Rick is aware of what is going on now. He has rejoined the here and now. Electricity coursing through your body will do that to a person. He is in a different room well it's not different it's just that he hasn't been in this room since he was first tested and by the same doctor who performed his initial intake testing years ago. Before he can remember his name he is caught off guard as another spike of voltage that courses through his body. The duration he is being hit with is starting to become increasingly longer and longer. He can feel everything he has stored in his mind from his searches on the internet about her is fading away. He needs this to stop before he forgets everything about her. He can't let that happen.

The phone rings at the ungodly hour of 4:22 am. Robbie fumbles for the receiver of the ancient princess telephone at his bedside nightstand. Extending it to his ear he listens in a sleepy daze. It's when nurse Grogan mentions to him that Rick is no longer in his room and is being tortured by Dr. Harrison that he is awake and out of bed trying to find his clothes.

"Robbie, get down here before this quack of a doctor turns Rick into a babbling idiot. He's already had 5 ECT treatments and he can't take much more. So move your ass!"

"I'm on my way. Try to stall him, Julia, he can't take any of what he is doing to him. Hell, trip the breaker in the basement to stop the power going to his exam room if you need to."

The line goes dead and Robbie quickly leaves a note for his children telling them that he was needed at work earlier than usual. He decides to use his car instead of taking the subway. It's quicker and he can coast to Bellevue with no stopping due to the streets being empty at 4:30 in the morning. 15 minutes Robbie dashes past the revolving doors at the entrance. He is passing Julia and she gives him a wink. He knows that she has done something to stop Dr. Harrison from doing more damage to Rick. He pushes the door to Harrison's office open and yells for him to stop doing what he's doing now.

"Mr. Labbe, I can see that you are in no way trained in this field of study or procedure, so I'll ask you to kindly leave this treatment area and let me continue my treatment on this deranged, out of control patient."

"Well, there's where you're wrong doctor. In my hand, I have a court order signed by judge Henley giving me a power of attorney and legal guardianship over Mr. Rodgers. So, doctor, I'd tread very carefully if I were you."

Dr. Harrison removes the plastic guard that was barely in Rick's mouth. As he does Robbie sees the damage that Dr. Harrison has done to Rick with the treatments he subjected him to. Robbie walks over to him demands that the doctor removes the electrode halo and then step away. Robbie removes the blood pressure cuff and the remaining leads from Rick's chest. He finds the shirt he was wearing before all this started and tries to slip his upper torso into the shirt. He moves to the end of the stretcher and starts to roll it out of Harrison's treatment room. It's then when the director decides to make an appearance. He stands in the doorway blocking the exit with his body. Robbie not having any of it keeps the gurney rolling towards the door with showing no indication of stopping whatsoever. The director thinks that Robbie will stop before he runs into him, so he stands fast in the doorway. He could not have been more wrong. The director stands about 6' 3". His man parts are just at the same height as the yellow steel tubing of the gurney. Robbie has the opportunity to get a little more payback on Rick's behalf. Robbie starts to run now and the director really wants to move but is still determined to block the doorway. It's the old theory of the immovable object versus the unstoppable force. The collision is inevitable and the impact sends the director flying out into Harrison's outer office. He comes to a sliding halt just out of the way of the entry door. As Robbie looks to his crumpled body on the floor trying to protect his manhood with his hands, he throws a copy of the court order down to him and tells the director,

"Mr. Rodgers is no longer happy with the service and treatment he receives at this third rate facility. He is checking out NOW!"

Robbie gets Rick to the front doors and he unstraps him from the gurney. He quickly gets Rick off the gurney rolls it back into the hospital and sits Rick on a bench near the door. Robbie heads for the employee lot to get his car. He pulls up alongside the hospital's front doors and to his relief Rick is still sitting there slumped against the wall. He quickly walks over to him and slips his head under his arm pulling his right arm around the back of his own shoulder. This must look comical to anyone walking down the sidewalk because Robbie is 5 foot 4 inches tall and Rick is easily a foot taller than him maybe taller. But still, he does his best to get him over to the passenger side of his car. Rick still is unconscious and Robbie hopes that he's done the right thing by removing him from Bellevue. He has positioned in the car with his seatbelt across his shoulder and lap. Robbie gets in and starts the car and merges into traffic heading to the only place he can think of. His home.

He had the forethought to tell his children of his pending arrival. They meet him in the driveway and give him help with a still unconscious Rick. He is now really worried. Not one of them has any medical training except for basic lifesaving training. So if Rick's heart stops they know exactly what to do for him. Anything more complex, they're dead in the water. They get him into the house and Robbie gets him to his room. Rick is so tall that from his calves down to his ankles hang over the end of the bed. Robbie pulls his legs up and folds them underneath one another so he won't lose the feeling in his legs. He pulls the comforter up over his chest and to his chin and hopes that this will help. It has always made him feel safe and warm, so it just might work.

It's late Saturday night and they decided to take shifts watching him in 4-hour blocks of time. Robbie has agreed to take the midnight to four am shift. So he gets ready with a cold glass of water the latest novel by Michael Connelly titled The Fifth Witness. He settles in, dims the lamp next to him and starts to read to Rick softly. His children are fast asleep and he quickly gets lost in the written pages before him. Three hours later he needs a break after reading half of the book. He returns from the bathroom and he sees that Rick's eyes are open. He steps up and waves his hand in front of his eyes and as he does he never blinks. He's stoic. It's the first change since he was brought here almost 12 hours ago, so Robbie sits back down and picks up his book and starts to read again.

Five in the morning brings the first rays of the sun through the slats of the wooden blinds that hang in front of his window. Robbie places his book that is almost finished in the middle of his lap. He watches as the sun creeps up towards the horizon and he notices the changing colors from deep orange to a soft yellow. The sun is almost fully up. As his gaze looks over to Rick he sees his eyes moving back and forth then his head turns side to side. Robbie bookmarks his place in the novel and places the book on the nightstand. He stands over Rock and he hopes that he will give him something to show that he is back and has suffered no permanent damage from that quack of a doctor.

"Rick?"

He sees his hand twitch and starts to move a little.

"Rick, it's okay. Your safe. I made sure of that. You are at my home and it's just about 5:15 in the morning on Sunday."

Rick blinks and finds the power to raise his hand to rub his face and pinch his nose between his thumb and index finger. After a couple of seconds, he realizes that he is not strapped to anything. After years of being confined to a bed, he can now get off this bed and move around without any consequences. He sees the look of empathy on Robbie's face and he simply nods. Rick slowly moves his cramped legs of the side of the bed and places his hands on his thighs. He slowly rises off the bed and stands to his full height. He hears a gasp from the other side of the room and he guesses it's Vanessa who lets out the sound from the other side of the door that's cracked open just enough for her see. He stretches and he yawns. Robbie hears all the joints in his body crack almost simultaneously. Rick stretches again once more because he just can.

"Rick I need you to give me some indication that you're okay and that doctor didn't fry what's left of your brain."

Rick turns to face Robbie and steps directly in front of him and pulls him into a sympathetic hug. Robbie returns the embrace and he hears Rick weeping lightly. They separate and Rick quickly wipes the moisture from his cheeks. He starts to give him signs.

Rick makes a circular motion with his index finger at the side of his head.

"Rick, I know that you are NOT crazy. So what is it?"

Rick tries a different tact. He holds up four fingers and then mimics the older movie projectors from the 30's that need to be cranked in order to film.

"So you had another vision. What was it about?"

Rick makes the heart symbol with his thumb and index fingers.

"What did you see happening to her this time?"

He aims an imaginary rifle at the wall. Robbie understands.

"So in this latest vision were you able to see the face of the sniper? Maybe something to identify him by?"

Rick shake his head to the negative. And he makes a sign to Robbie once again.

He places his arms on an imaginary table. He uses hand gestures like he is making a point as he's speaking. Then he turns to look away.

"Alright let me see if I can figure this out." Robbie says. But as he tries to tackle the first part of the message, Jude opens the door walks through it and tells his father what Rick signed not only seconds ago.

"Papa, he said that whoever he was talking about was standing at something like a podium, giving a speech to a crowd of people and they look off to their left as if looking at something stationary not that far from where they are standing." Jude translates.

Rick asks for and gets a high five from Jude. He touches his index finger to his nose and smiles.

Robbie tells his son to leave the room this instant. Shoves him out into the hallway and locks the door behind him. He turns to Rick with a look of fire in his eyes.

"Rick, I know that you are seeing these visions, I _can_ answer for my actions, only because I have decided to help you with saving her life. No one should die this way. But now you have painted a target on my only son's back. By not making sure he could see what you were signing he inadvertently became one. From this point on we never talk in front of my children again!"

Rick motions for a pen and a pad to write on. Seeing that Robbie is upset he would rather write his responses rather than sign them. Time is not a luxury they have a lot of.

 _Robbie, I am so sorry. I never thought to make sure that no one was looking at me when I was signing. I am ashamed of my actions. Please forgive me._

Robbie places his hand on Rick's shoulder and gives him a gentle squeeze of acceptance after he finishes the note.

"Okay Rick, how much information have you retained after your ECT treatments? And I need to tell you that the way that quack doctor administered the treatments he did it without any muscle relaxants triggering your body to react to the full voltage coursing through your body. You will still be in some pain for a couple more days."

Rick starts to write again.

" _I was able to find out more about her and her boss. I think that he was murdered along with his wife and children. There was also a pair of retired detectives who were also killed, one was killed in prison and the other took his own life. I don't believe any of their murders were accidents. It's way too orchestrated. Whoever is doing this he is cleaning house. Do you want to know an unusual fact? I don't think that she knows that all of this is connected, or involved her which will keep her defenses down."_

"So what do you remember last night when you returned from your fact finding mission? Did you see anything further than what we talked about?"

Rick nods his head and once again starts to write.

" _I was there standing in the cemetery watching the service. She started talking to a co-worker I think, he had an Irish last name. Then she walked past her Captains casket and saluted it and then set her notes on the podium and started her eulogy. That's when I noticed the sniper, it was like I was floating over him. He was in a prone position and he was taking aim at her. Then I was back near her co-worker again listening to her talk when I caught a glimpse of the sniper's scope. The shot rang out and then I found myself on the gurney in Dr. Henderson's exam room. I never noticed if she was hit by the sniper or not."_

"Okay, so these images you saw were quick to flood your brain, so much so that you could not process them all right away?"

Rick nods yes.

When these images finally sorted themselves out you actually felt like you were there at the service?"

Again Rick nods yes.

"Rick, and I say this not to scare you by any means, but you have taken your gift one step further. I think that once these images you are having in your mind sort themselves out and the mini movie plays in your head you are able to leave your body. Not in the physical sense but your mind can. This could be dangerous for two reasons. First being that if you are in this state and something happens to you while your in this state, it will either kill you or plunge you into a deep coma."

Rick gives Robbie a questioning look. Not really understanding what he means. Robbie explains.

"Rick, let's say that after you start viewing the mini-movie you are there and you're standing on a street corner. Then an out of control bus barrels towards you and hits you while you are out of your body. Now your mind is there and your body is still here at my house. You could either die, in both mind and body, or just being run down in your mind could make your body shut down and you slip into a deep coma. I'm not too sure if this can happen or not, hell my mother never had what you described happen to her. So this is all new for me too.

Rick starts to write again.

 _It seems that once the mini-movie starts to play it just takes me there. Can I stop it from happening? And if I can't will I ever be able to see the last scene to see if the sniper actually hits her with the bullet?_

"Those are both very good questions Rick. Ones that I am unable to give you an answer for. Now in the vision are you able to see anything that could maybe give us a date? Maybe where the sun is in the sky for a time reference?"

" _I think that it is early morning. The sun is still low and in the east. As for a date, I'll hope the vision comes back and then maybe I can find out."_

"Rick, this is enough for now. It's just about 8 am on a Sunday, how about a good cup of non-institutionalized coffee and something to eat?"

" _Lead the way Robbie._

Robbie and his children make breakfast and in no time they are eating. Well, Robbie and his kids are eating, Rick is sitting there looking like he's Oliver Twist asking "Please sir can I have some more." His plate has been empty before they even sat down.

 **A/N: To date, this is the longest chapter that I have ever written for any of my stories. Please be kind and leave a review in the little box at the bottom right!**

 **P2P**


	10. Chapter 10

Robbie can't believe where Rick put all the food he cooked for him. He has eaten so much that he thinks he will get sick. When he finally slows down he does so to take a long draw on a tall glass of milk.

"Papa, don't they feed him in there?" Vanessa asks.

"You'd think he never ate a thing, but I've seen him eat there. He usually went to the rec room and ate there with the other patients."

Robbie watches as Rick sets the now empty milk glass on the kitchen table. He picks up the pen and starts to write.

" _Robbie, we need to make a trip to the bank. I need to make a very large withdrawal. I am going to do something for you and I need you not to refuse. Deal?"_

Robbie reads the note and asked Rick:

"Rick, what am I agreeing to?"

" _Robbie, you helped me get out of that place so now I will return your kindness. So don't even think about refusing."_

"Okay Rick, deal!" However, Robbie has his doubts.

They get ready for the trip to the bank. Rick needs Robbie to do anything bank related because of his required signature on all the documents that need to be signed. Rick had no personal belongings at all. When Robbie pulled him out of that quacks office all he had was the crumpled shirt on his back and his denim pants. After their trip to the bank, it was on to a good clothing store.

Waiting in line all Rick could do was observe everything around him. To him everything was different. When he was admitted it was a different time then. Almost a quarter of a century can change everything that you thought you knew. He was writing up a frenzy.

" _Robbie, what's that small machine out in the lobby?"_ Rick wrote to him.

"Rick that's an ATM."

" _ATM?"_ Rick questioned.

"A.T.M. It's an acronym for **A** utomated **T** eller **M** achine. It's there so that you can have access to your account even when the bank is closed."

" _Oh. So why do we need to come inside? Why can't we get cash through the ATM?"_

"Well first, we are withdrawing a very large amount from your account. I can assure you that the ATM only has a limited amount of cash in the machine. And all you would get would be twenty dollar bills. Plus, I'd feel safer if we withdrew just enough cash to get what you wanted to do and ask for the balance in traveler checks or maybe a certified check."

' _Okay, whatever you think is best."_

They both step up to the teller when they are called. The teller, Lois gives them a smile and asks what she can do for them today.

"Hi Lois, we need to make a large withdrawal."

Robbie hands the Lois the withdrawal slip and her eyes go wide at the amount. She pulls the account information up on the computer screen and her eyes go wide once more. Typing away for short time she turns to them and says:

"If you'll excuse me I am going to need to speak with the bank manager."

She leaves them standing there and then she returns to the counter. The manager walks up behind them while they are waiting in the line.

"Mr. Rodgers, Mr. Labbe can you please follow me?"

They both comply and the manager brings them to his desk.

"Mr. Rodgers I understand that you want to make a very large withdrawal."

Rick shakes his head up and down.

"Well okay then just fill out this form, have Mr. Labbe sign it in my presence, present a form of identification and then I'll go to the vault to get the cash you need. The traveler checks can be obtained at the counter. I'll need about fifteen minutes to count and prepare the cash. There's coffee and bottled water over there while your wait."

The manager heads to the vault and counts out fifty thousand dollars in hundreds. He then asks the teller Lois to print up 40 travelers checks with a face value of $2500.00 each. She gets to work and within ten minutes the manager returns with the cash. He waits for Lois to come over with the checks and he explains the process.

"Mr. Rodgers here is the cash you requested. The traveler checks are $2500.00 each in value. If they're lost, you can report it and get your money back provided you keep the receipt with the serial numbers listed on it. There is also a ten-dollar fee associated with their issue. So the total withdrawal from your account today will be in the amount of One hundred fifty thousand four hundred dollars."

Rick nods and then he signs the slip. Passing it over to Robbie he does the same and the manager hands him the cash and checks.

"Mr. Rodgers, it's been a pleasure to serve you today. Please don't hesitate to consider us for your financial needs in the future." The manager tells him. Rick gets up and leaves the lobby. Robbie is held back by the manager with a gentle tug on his arm and he asks him:

"Mr. Labbe, can Mr. Rodgers speak?"

Deciding to have a little fun he tells the manager:

"Sir, while I'm not at liberty to tell you the whole story, Mr. Rodgers has been in an institution for the last twenty-five years. At first, he was a screamer and after about a year of him screaming at the top of his lungs while he was awake, the staff decided to cut his vocal chords to quiet him."

The manager just looks at Robbie with a shocked look. He shakes his head and Robbie turns away not being able to hide his smile.

They are in a store in mid-town Manhattan because the selection for Rick's size here was more accommodating than at other men's stores. They walked into Brooks Brothers for a nice suit, shirt, shoes and accessories. Finding what he liked, he tried on a suit made adjustments for alterations and it would be ready in two days. Then they caught a cab and went to H&M. Rick bought everyday clothes there. Jeans, short and long sleeved shirts, an outer coat, and underwear and socks. Rick was like a kid in a candy shop. He insisted to show Robbie everything he was going to buy. He was in and out of the men's changing room for at least seven changes showing off every possible combination of pants and shirts. Robbie just sat in the chair outside of the changing room trying hard not to laugh at his antics.

Rick was so happy to be trying on clothes that actually had style and color. He was just about to walk out and show Robbie another ensemble when his head started to pound. He had trouble standing inside the closed-in small changing room and before he knew it he was falling head first into the door his cheek bone catching the door handle as he hit the floor in a heap.

Robbie's smile faded into a scowl wondering what had just happened. He heard Rick collapse inside the changing room and shot to his feet to get to him. He tried the door and he found that with Rick being so large and the changing room so small he was blocking the door from opening with his body.

"Help, I need help here someone?!"

Rick was out for the count. He had a gash on the side of his face where he hit the door handle. A store employee tried with Robbie to open the door. The efforts they put fourth were useless.

Rick's mind was flooded with hundreds of images. His mind sorted all of them out and before he knew it he was once again watching the scene at the cemetery play out as if he was there. This time the movie was different. It started past the point where he had previously seen. He was running towards her. Her co-workers were standing next to her about five feet away as she was reading her eulogy. He heard the snipers shot being fired and he actually felt the concussion of the air being displaced as the projectile gained speed and elevation towards her. He was still running in an attempt to catch up with the bullet as if to stop its forward trajectory. He had almost reached the podium when he felt his body become sluggish the closer he came to her. He risked a look over his shoulder to adjust his path to meet the bullets path. It was then that his movie suddenly stopped playing and he heard Robbie calling out his name.

"Rick, Rick answer me!" Robbie shouted.

Robbie heard movement inside the changing room Then he was able to move the door open a little. He spotted Rick trying to get up to rest on his knees. As he did Robbie opened the door to its fullest. He helped Rick to his feet and slowly walked him out to the seating area outside the changing room.

"It happened again, didn't it?" Robbie asked.

All Rick did was nod.

Rick asked for the pen and paper and started to write furiously.

 _"I was there again…. I was seeing more but not enough to get a time or date. I did notice that the visions started well past where I had been previously. I could see her reading her eulogy and the shot came from behind me this time. I was running towards her trying to block the bullets path."_

"Rick we need to get back to my house and consider our next move. We need to find out where this takes place!"

Robbie and Rick collect the clothes that Rick has selected, went to the cashier and paid for his new clothes. They were in his car and soon they would be at his house.


	11. Chapter 11

Robbie is scared. Really scared. He hopes that if Rick has another one of these visions that he will be able to come back to him and not end up a vegetable. He would be lost on how to get him back with them. His children have been reading medical books, but he fears that what they're reading will be of little help if this happens again.

"Papa, when Rick was diagnosed at his first visit, what did they find?" Vanessa asks.

"Child, keep your voice quiet. Rick is asleep in the other room. I was not able to see what the doctors diagnosed him with way back then. All those records are in paper format and stored in a wing in Bellevue that I could not access. I can tell you that within the last ten years he had never been back to see any doctor or specialist, they just left him strapped to his bed in his room. Those records are on the computer."

"Papa, he's not a danger to us, is he?"

"Vanessa, he's not. While he does not wish to speak, he is as gentle as a lamb. He has a big heart, one that I'm sure he will share with you."

Rick is lying in the bed in the spare bedroom. He hears everything even though he should be getting some rest. He thinks to himself, _"I'll never hurt you, Vanessa."_

Rick was able to nod off right after his mind cleared a little. The next thing he felt was Robbie tugging on his shirt.

"Rick, get up. It's time to eat."

Rick slowly gets out of the bed, walks to the bathroom and splashes water on his face to try to clear the sleep from his eyes. He dries off and heads out to the dinner table.

"Rick, Jude and I were looking into some medical books and we were wondering what your initial diagnoses was." Vanessa asks.

Rick quickly grabs his pen and pad and writes furiously. Soon he gives the pad to her and she reads his notes.

"You were diagnosed with schizophrenia and I can't read the rest of it." Vanessa tells him.

So Rick writes it in block letter BI-POLAR.

"Oh, I'm sorry Rick." Vanessa apologizes and Rick just nods and smiles.

"Well, we found nothing from your records that would keep you there for so long. It's like they were holding you against your will." Rick just nods again, knowing that's the truth.

"Wait, you mean you knew that they were holding you against your wishes?" Robbie asks.

Rick just writes again in the pad. _"I was young. What did I know? My mother visited me at least once a month, but after about three years she stopped coming. I was hoping that she would visit for my birthdays, but she never made it."_

Robbie sits there and thinks about how cruel Rick was treated. And then he tells him

"Rick, you will always have a family here."

Rick smiles widely. Dinner is almost done and Rick decides to help out. He clears the dinner dishes and as he starts to run the water to wash them Robbie tells him that he is a guest in his home and his children will clean the dishes. Rick will hear none of it and waves Robbie off with his hand getting him wet with the gesture. Dishes done, Rick returns to the living room where Robbie and his children are watching a new TV show that had premiered about two years prior. He sits down on the couch and watches intently. It's a cop drama and it's the last episode of the season. It holds your attention and it's well written. The actors, though, are probably being paid an insane amount of money to star in this show. The hour goes on and he sees a pattern within this episode develop. There is a mystery writer who is following around the lead female detective. Rick thinks that he has feelings for her. Then the lead detective's boss was killed protecting her in an airplane hangar. The show breaks for a commercial and he thinks about the scene he just watched. In his mind he sees a link between the lead detective in the show and Kate Beckett. He sees the last commercial end and the next scene in front of him has his whole body trembling. Then he sees her bosses casket being delivered to the plot. He watches with an energy he has never felt before. Then the scene hits him, this is his vision. The playing drums, the riderless horse, followed by the hearse. She is at the podium and giving her eulogy. He sees the actor playing the writer notice the snipers weapon catch the sunshine and reflect brightly.

Then it starts to happen again. As he sees the writer react too late to save her from being hit by the bullet. However, this vision seems different. Robbie and his children are watching the last scene unfold with the show and they are so captivated by the writer's admission of love to the now wounded detective, they never see Rick's eyes roll to the back of his skull. As his vision fades and he enters a black area in his mind, he's in the cemetery standing right where the actor in the show was. He sees the same glint off the rifle. He jumps to stop her from being hit by the bullet and he succeeds. He is on top of her and she can tell that he is crushing her. He's apologetic towards her, but he is motionless. Just before he passes out he sees a signpost marking the row of headstones. On it the marker has a name. Shilo Drive he sees as he pulled off her passing out.

Robbie, looks at the screen as it fades and the credits roll. He looks over to Rick who has been still for the last couple of minutes. What he sees is Rick shaking uncontrollably. He is at his side in a second. He raises one of his eyelids and he knows what is happening is not good. It has been hours since his latest vision has happened. Robbie is getting worried. He's worried because the last vision Rick had was short in duration, about 6 hours before he came back to them. Now he was more than 24 hours into this one. With the help of his children they moved him to the spare room's bed. He's burning up. Not a fever, but his body feels like it's on fire. Robbie has cold compresses on Rick's head trying to keep him cool.

Xx

Rick has been in his vision for a while. He heard a voice calling him after he passed out in the cemetery. This was new to the vision, not continuing the last vision of her being targeted. Where he was now, was pitch black. There was no light anywhere. He relied on hearing to locate the voice which was somewhere to his right. He tried to listen to better orientate the voice, but was unsuccessful.

The voice once again made its presence known.

 _ **"Richard, you need to make sure she survives this."**_

"Who are you?" Rick asks.

 _ **"Who I am is of no concern right now. Let's just say that her continued existence**_ _**will benefit the both of us greatly."**_

"Her welfare and comfort have always been my life's goal." Rick told the voice.

 _ **"I know this to be true."**_ The voice responds.

"Show yourself!""

 _ **"All in due time, Richard. Patience."**_

"Why am I having these visions?"

 _ **Richard, the two of you were destined to save each other. While you will save her from physical harm, she will be able to set your soul free. Richard you are very troubled. She will show you the way to redemption."**_

"Will I hear you again?"

 _ **"Richard, we will meet only once more. Until that time, you need to understand one thing. She is all alone and will make imprudent choices. Ones, that could be deadly for the both of you."  
**_

A fog takes over his mind and it's all black again. He feels his head lightening. He hears Vanessa snoring lightly beside him. He risks opening his eyes and as they flutter open he sees Robbie asleep in the chair at the foot of the bed. He raises his hand to touch Vanessa, as he grazes her arm her eyes meet his, and she smiles contagiously. She just stares at him, then without any forewarning pulls him into a loving hug. Stepping back, she tells him;

Rick, we were so worried. You've been in your vision since Monday. What did you see?"

Robbie wakes to Vanessa talking quietly to Rick. All he can do is get up and wait until he writes his answer.

 _"I heard a voice. One that held compassion and wisdom. She told me that we were meant to save each other."_

"Was that all?" Robbie asks.

 _"No, she told me that I'd see her one more time."_

Robbie rubbed the five o'clock shadow on his face, deep in thought.

"Papa, what is it?" Vanessa asked.

"Vanessa, I think that Rick has found guidance from beyond this realm. I'm not too sure if this will end well." Robbie whispers the last part in his daughter's ear. She looks at her father and she sees the fear in his eyes.


	12. Chapter 12

To say he was onboard with Ricks latest vision was not at all what he wanted to believe. He was worried. When he told them about the voice he heard and that he could actually talk to this voice, Robbie pressed him for more information. He wanted to know if Rick recognized the voice from his vision. He was also worried for Rick's life. After this latest vision, Rick described to them that he had hurled himself into the path of the bullet hurtling towards the detective. He really needed to sit down with him and find out everything that had happened, he was sure that Rick was keeping important facts from him.

Vanessa came into her father's room and wanted to get his thoughts on Rick's latest vision.

"Papa, please tell me that you know that this will end badly for Rick?"

"Vanessa, I can't get blood from a stone. If Rick won't see to reason, who am I to stand in his way?"

"Papa, this is not you! You never abandon people. And to you, Rick is more like a brother than a friend. You need to get him to open up to you." Vanessa demanded.

"Little girl, there is only so much I can do. I can plead with him until I'm blue in the face, but if he can't see what's laid out right  
in front of him, well…."

"Papa, please don't give up on him. He has so much to offer everyone he comes in contact with."

"Vanessa I really do understand what you want me to do. But my hands are tied." Vanessa gets up to give one more shot at Rick before she turns in for the night. Robbie watches the slight smile on her face as she closes the door to his room.

Xx

Kate and her co-workers are in a room within the police precinct. She is telling her friends that their boss will be remembered for all the good he has done in his career. She also tells them that they will keep his secrets to themselves and that nobody will ever find out about his indiscretions. They are just about to leave when one of her friends asks if she will give the eulogy at their Captains funeral. She wants to decline at first, but after thinking about it, she reconsiders the task. The boys both get up and leave the small room.

She has a feeling she's done this before. She vaguely remembers writing her Captains eulogy, but the feeling fades from her memory the next second. She rises and heads back to her desk to finish the remaining paperwork on her Captains murder.

Rick can't get the voice out of his head. The sweet voice he had in his vision. He can't place it, but in a way he has heard it somewhere before. As he racks his brain endlessly trying to figure it out. There is a soft knock on his door. He taps his foot on the bare hardwood floor telling whoever it is that they can come in. Vanessa opens the door slowly hiding her eyes. Rick can see that she is only kidding around by the smile she wears on her face.

"Hi Rick"

Rick nods and smiles back at her.

"I was wondering if you wanted to tell me about your vision and when I say "tell me" you need to tell me everything."

Rick loves her straightforwardness. He thinks about telling her everything, but she will go straight to Robbie and spill the beans. He can't compromise his friend. So he writes on the pad asking her if they found any leads for the street name that he remembered from his vision.

"Rick, we have three possible locations. One is more than likely not for us because it's in Oregon. The other two are more likely. One is out on Long Island, in Central Islip, and the other is right here in Manhattan. It's located in the East village actually."

Rick vigorously touches his finger to his nose.

"You think that's the one?"

Rick is now nodding his head just as vigorously.

"Well, what do you want to do?"

Rick writes on the pad and hands it back to her. There are only two words written on it.

 _"Field Trip!"_

"Okay, when? Tomorrow is Friday, and I hope the place will be empty. Walking around a cemetery gives me the he-be-jeebies."

Rick scribbles on the pad once again.

 _"Okay, tomorrow let's say around 11?" We won't stay long, I promise."_

"I'm in. Now, why not try to get some sleep? We have a big day ahead of us in the morning."

Rick just nods. It will be a while before he will be able to get sleep. The next morning finds him restless. He was only able to get about three hours of solid sleep. His last vision overtook him suddenly and without any warning. He does not want to have an episode in the middle of walking through the cemetery. He has been thinking about this since he woke up. He can't put Vanessa through this. He really wants to cancel this field trip to keep anything from happening there, but he also wants to know if the answers he seeks are there also. After deep thought, he decides that he won't disappoint Vanessa. So he gets ready for the trip.

Vanessa has everything ready. She hopes that this is the cemetery that Rick saw in his vision. She will keep a close eye on him because her father told her that Rick could have an episode at any time. Her father is at Bellevue today working. She told him about the trip and he told her to keep him safe and he wanted to know what they found, if anything. They decide to take a cab to the cemetery. Finding one with ease at this hour they are off. The ride is a short one and they enter the cemetery. They walk around for about twenty minutes and then they finally find Shilo drive.

"Rick, is this the same street you observed in the vision?"

Rick can only shake his head showing sadness, knowing what will happen here. He walks to where the podium will be set up and he looks out beyond the gravestones trying to figure out where the sniper would possibly set up his hide. The possibilities and infinite. He turns away knowing that it's impossible to find where he could hide. As he walks away he sees a freshly dug grave. He knows without a doubt who will occupy it before long. Vanesa is right next to him and he looks to her for the pad and pen.

 _"This is the place. Now all we need is to have a look at the obituaries to find out what time I need to be here."_

"Okay Rick, let's head back home."

He loves the word home. It gives him a sense of unity. This is something he never had when he was locked away. Vanessa gently tugs on his shirt sleeve and he comes back from his thoughts. They walk slowly back to the exit of the grounds, with Rick studying everything he can. He'll need it later. Once they reach the exit and are standing on the sidewalk he raises his hand to hail a cab and one quickly pulls over for them. Soon they are back home. Rick is the first to reach for the newspaper. He finds the section he needs and carefully studies each name. It takes a minute or two because he never stopped to think how many people actually die in the city every day. Spotting the obituary, he reads the time for the service. It's set for ten o'clock on Sunday. He will be there, there's no question in his mind that he won't be.

Robbie arrives home after a long day at work. Things with the director have taken a turn for the worse. Every time he passes him in the hallway, he gets a look that could kill. The director blames Robbie for losing his rich meal ticket. So in retaliation, he had told his boss to give him the worst details. This was nothing short of emptying bed pans, cleaning up vomit, and sanitizing the restrooms. Robbie takes it all in stride. No matter what, he still loves his job.


	13. Chapter 13

Rick woke up to his internal body clock. He needed to be up and out of the house before Robbie left for work. He had a lot of important things to do today. He knew that if anything were to happen to him, at least he'd be peaceful with the decision that he made.

He typed up his requests on the computer and printed them out ready to be received by the people he needed to see. He jumped in for a quick shower, dressed and made a pot of coffee. Robbie would be surprised but he would like the gesture of a fresh pot. Taking the last sip, he rinsed the mug out and placed it in the sink to wash later.

His first stop was to get a good meal. He remembered a diner his mother had once mentioned so he decided to try the place that she raved about. Quietly closing and locking the door to the apartment he set off. The diner was everything she'd described. From all the movie stars who had claimed to have been there to the Formica counter top and red vinyl padded stools. As he waited to be seated he read some of the stars that graced the wall. Frank Sinatra, Doris Day, Marilyn Monroe, and Perry Como just to name a few. He thought that the wall needed some newer additions.

The waitress escorted him to a booth and he placed his order by pointing at the picture in the menu all while pouring him a cup of coffee. She looked, nodded and left. As he added milk and sugar to his coffee he thought about Kate Beckett. He wondered if she remembered him? Did she ever think about him? All these questions would be answered soon, he hoped. He pulled out his messenger bag and removed a file folder and then removed a small plastic bag containing a small micro-cassette. He reads the file and concentrates on its contents. He has a vast amount of information on Senator William Bracken. Most of it he had was circumstantial, but some of it would put him away for life. He removes the tape from the bag and twirls it between his fingers. As he does he remembers the day when he came into possession of it.

 _"Hello Mr. Rodgers."_

You don't know me, but I know of you. My name is Pablo Rios. And I also know that you're here against your will.

Rick gives him an unknowing look.

"I need to give you something Mr. Rodgers. You see I was the last person to see your mother alive. I am so sorry that you lost her, she must have been an incredible woman. You see it was me who hit her car on that day, and I'm so very sorry. I should have never taken that last job. The truck I was driving was overweight and the brakes were not working properly."

Rick looks at the man and he sees the pain that he deals with every day by the tears that flow down his face. He touches his arm to comfort him and let him know that it's okay.

"Right after the accident I rushed over to the car and I tried to get her out. She was banged up pretty badly. Instead of trying to move her I just laid down and held her hand. The police and EMS people had yet to respond. She was trying to tell me something but what it was, I could not understand. She had insisted that I find her purse. When I did she took her trembling hands and ripped the lining out of the side of the bag. In it was this."

Rick looks at the micro cassette and wonders what could be on it.

"Mr. Rodgers, on this tape is something very important. Your mother told me that when the time came you'd know exactly what to do with this."

Now since listening to the tape he had Bracken dead to rights for murder, extortion, and money laundering. He is interrupted by the waitress with his food. He hastily puts everything back in his bag and digs in. His meal finished, he leaves a good sized tip and pays his bill. His next stop is the post office. Upon reaching the post office he needs to send her everything he has gathered. He only trusts she'll know what to do with this information he is giving her.

He is at his third stop of the day. He respects the sight he sees before him. It's only been about 3 months since he was here last, but it still is a painful reminder of what he lost. He misses her. They did a great job with her headstone, it was simple but heartfelt. He said a prayer and then hoped that she was in a better place. He left heading to his next stop. He walked into the bank where his account was and sat down at the branch managers desk.

"Good Morning Mr. Rodgers, how can I help you?"

Rick passes the manager his prepared note and sits back.

"Mr. Rodgers are you sure about this?" He asks in an irritated tone.

Rick pulled out a second note and handed it to him.

"Mr. Rodgers, are you still certain about this?

Rick just sat there nodding his head.

"Well, it will take some time to process. 5 million dollars is not the kind of money we have on hand. And you want it split up three ways?"

Rick nods once again and pulls out the last note. The manager takes it and then understands what he's doing.

"You want 1 million to go into a trust for Vanessa, 1 million for Jude also in a trust, only to be used for college?"

He nods again.

"And the remainder is to be deposited into Mr. Labbe's account, is that correct?"

Rick gives him the thumbs up.

"Alright Mr. Rodgers, but this will take some time. I'll process this transaction myself. Mr. Rodgers, can I ask why you're being so generous?"

Rick simply places his hand over his heart.

All the manager does is nod in confirmation.

Rick watches as he prepares the paperwork. It takes about two and a half hours, but finally Rick signs the necessary forms and places them in an envelope for Robbie. He leaves the bank and heads back to Robbie's place. As he walks down the sidewalk he has a thought. At first, he thinks that it's silly, but the more he thinks about it the more serious he is about actually doing it. He is not far from the 12th precinct. So he takes the chance that she might be there. He wants to see her. And maybe, just maybe he can get a glimpse of her.

He walks up the street directly across from the precinct and leans against a UPS drop box. He watches and waits. As it turns out the wait is not that long. She and the co-worker that he had seen in his vision exit the building and head to an unmarked car. His eye follows her the entire distance. She is beautiful there's no doubt in his mind. She pauses, looking across the street almost directly at him. He drops his head and watches as she scans the opposite side of the street. Sensing that something if off, she looks intently at the flow of people traversing the sidewalk. Finally, she shrugs it off and unlocks the car and gets in. Her partner follows. They pull away from the parking spot and are gone.

Xx

She felt something the second she hit the sidewalk. Something that put her on alert. It was hard to describe, but she felt that she was being watched. Her initial scan of the area yielded nothing. As she looked a little harder, she was not seeing anything out of the ordinary. Until she noticed the man look down too quickly. That was a dead giveaway. She watched him as he watched her from the street until he spun on his heel and left. She and Ryan got into the car and left.

She thought she knew him somehow. But she could not dwell on this thought because they were heading to see Evelyn Montgomery. They needed to talk to her about the final plans for the Captain's funeral and she needed to have a clear mind when they spoke to her.

Xx

Rick left and walked about a block south to get away from the precinct hoping that she would not to try to find him. He hailed a cab and wrote on his pad the address of Robbie's apartment. When he arrived back he entered the apartment and the heavenly smell was the first thing to attack his senses. They were all there Robbie was setting the table, Jude was stirring something in a large pot, and Vanessa was removing something from the oven. He walked in and when they noticed his return, Robbie pulled him to the side.

"Rick, the children and I wanted to cook for you tonight. I know that this could very well be your last meal. I try not to think about what could happen tomorrow. So please sit with us and enjoy what we have made here for you."

Rick just looks at him and sees in his eyes how much this means to him…


	14. Chapter 14

" _Richard, wake up. It's time."_

"Who are you, I need to know."

 _"I'm someone who like you cares about Katie. I am her mother. Now we have a lot to do, with only a small amount of time to do it in."_

"Am I going to die today?"

 _"Richard, I hope that you won't there are no guarantees in life. However, there are sacrifices that we sometimes need to make to ensure that what you feel for my Katie will be carried on. I know that you love her."_

"I do. Ever since that day when the two of you were on the sidewalk. The connection we shared was strong and has only grown since then."

 _"Then you know how big of a sacrifice you will be making today."_

Rick jolts from his sleep. It's close to six thirty in the morning. He knows that he has to save her from what's going to happen today. His affairs are all taken care of. He actually is amazed how easily it all went. All his real estate properties and the bulk of his cash will be given to Kate. It's the least he can do for her. He wants her to do whatever she wants with the money. He'd really like to see her out of law enforcement entirely, but he thinks that she would keep on doing what makes her happy.

"Papa, do you think that Rick will be able to save Kate?"

"Vanessa, when someone sets their mind to a task anything is possible."

"Are we going to the funeral?"

"You, my child are going nowhere near the cemetery today. I don't want you being caught up in any dangerous situations. That goes for your brother as well. Do you understand me?"

"Yes, papa."

"I, on the other hand, will be there, but only from a safe distance."

"Now get finished and tell your brother we're leaving for church in ten minutes."

"Okay." Vanessa agrees.

Rick listened at the bedroom door to the conversation and the front door being shut before he went to the kitchen to make a cup of coffee. As he sat at the kitchen table he thought about the task he was facing today. He could not fail. He would not fail. After a quick shower he dressed and retrieved the will he had drawn up explaining the money he left for Robbie, Jude, and Vanessa. He wanted to provide for Robbie for all the help had given him. He knew a million dollars in a trust for his children was excessive, but he wanted them taken care of. If he was able to do it for them so be it. He left the will, the account paperwork on the table each with a small note explaining what it was for.

He was dressed in dark blue. He made fun of himself as he looked in the mirror. He looked like a cop. Which now after he thought about it would work to his advantage. He would blend in with the people there. He looked around the apartment for what he thought might be the last time. Locking the door, he placed the key to the apartment under the front mat and turned to leave. He stepped outside and took in the bright sun-filled blue sky. He hailed a taxi and soon one pulled over to him. He got in and handed the address to toe driver and they were off.

Xx

Kate was a wreck. Mostly emotionally. She spent all night trying to write something to honor her Captain's life and his accomplishments. She was lost. He thoughts kept coming back to how he had been a part of her mother's death. Not directly mind you but his involvement covering it up was just as painful nonetheless. She had the beginnings of her eulogy, now she was going to need to improvise the rest of it as she spoke. Noticing the time, she showered, added a minimal amount of makeup and put on her dress blues. She had not worn them since graduating from the academy years ago. Ready to leave she gave Espo and Ryan a quick call to see if they were still going to meet for coffee before the funeral. They were. She walked into the diner not too far from the 12th and sat down at the booth across from them.

"Guys, what I'm about to say never leaves this table." When she was acknowledged with nods she continued.

"Roy was into matters that we don't need to reveal to anyone else. He will be remembered for the positive accomplishments during his career. I for one am not going to let this incident tarnish his name. IA has completed their investigation into the shooting at the hanger at the airport in Jersey. The shooting was justified in taking down a criminal at large."

"Beckett, what about the new Captain who replaces him?" Espo asked.

"Guys, everything is done and over with. Let's just move on, bury our friend and honor him."

"You're right Kate." Ryan said.

"Are you guys ready to go, we only have about an hour before we need to meet the procession at the funeral home." Kate said.

They both nodded once again. The left a tip for the waitress and exited the booth. Getting in the unmarked car Espo was driving Ryan was in the passenger seat and Kate was in the back. As they drove she had a feeling that something was off. A feeling of apprehension she thought, one that she shouldn't ignore but after they arrived at the funeral home it had evaporated. The ride to the cemetery was an intense one. Knowing that this was the last time they would see their Captain. When they arrived at the grave site, Kate took in her surroundings. The podium was directly under a maple tree providing shade from the sun that would definitely be high in the sky later. She looked around at the chairs that were placed in front of where the casket would later rest.

Xx

Rick was waiting for the right time. If he acted too soon or too late he would lose her. He had arrived before the procession of cars and motorcycles. Giving him time to look for the best vantage point to do what needed to be done. He watched the wind kick up slightly and the leaves of a maple tree rustled. He looked down from the leaves and noticed the podium right below. Walking around the massive tree trunk he found a place where he could be a mourner from a distance and still be in a position to act. The podium was about eight feet from the tree. He knew that it would be a physical necessity on his part to be able to jump after running to her, but he knew he could do it.

As he walked away from the tree he noticed the procession arriving. Finding a place to conceal his presence, for now, he finds a section of unoccupied grass by a small pathway and watches. The police vehicles slowly roll up and come to a stop. The pall bearers take position alongside of the casket as it's drawn from the hearse. There are three uniformed officers, Kate and her partners. They walk slowly to where the casket will be laid for the short service. Placing it down Kate looks to see Evelyn and her children finally realizing what Roy had sacrificed. She moves to the podium and takes her notes and places them down. She takes in a deep breath and starts her eulogy.

Rick moves in closer to the trunk of the tree watches and listens. She tells the mourners that her Captain lived for the job, but still was able to have a family. Watch them grow and become young adults. She pauses and looks over to the casket then resumes her speech. Rick is scanning the headstones that are in front of her. He knows it's coming but he can't see where the sniper is lying in wait. He moves to the other side of the tree and now he hears exactly what she's saying from his vision. He follows along with the speech knowing exactly when he should be in motion. As she arrives at the word he knows to be the one, he takes to a sprint and launches himself as he yells out loudly "KATE!"

The shot is fired with accuracy. As it travels along its deadly path, Rick is in midair turning his body with his back towards Kate. When he yelled her name she instinctively moved back from the podium allowing him to come between it and her. The projectile hit its mark with such force that Rick is pushed back into Kate and they both fall to the ground. Robbie just closes his eyes. He hopes that everything will be fine, but from the looks of it, Rick will not survive the hit….


	15. Chapter 15

The chaos that surrounds the cemetery is everywhere. Her co-workers are frantically trying to figure out what just happened and at a funeral no less. Rick was lying on top of Kate as if he was using his body to protect her still. She was breathing heavily and with his additional weight, she was having trouble exhaling. Trying to push this massive man off her proved almost impossible. She could tell, well she could feel that her pleas for him to get up went unanswered. He was unconscious on top of her.

"Beckett who the hell is this guy?" Esposito asked.

"Espo, forget who the hell he is and GET HIM OFF ME!"

"Yeah, uh sorry."

Ryan ran over to them after making sure that everyone was fine in the crowd of mourners. He and Espo each grab an arm and hoisted him off her. Lying him down right next to her he looked lifeless. Kate got up and hovered over her savior. His open eyes had shown no signs of life. But as she looked closer, she knows him from somewhere. He looked familiar. She studies him and then it hits her.

"Kate we need a bus here. He's got a pulse but he looks like he's dead." Ryan tells her.

"Yeah, but I'm going to go be with him every step of the way." Kate insists.

The two FDNY EMT's are beside her in less than a minute. She hopes that he'll be okay. They take vitals and place him on the stretcher and strap him in not bothering to check anything else. Rolling him to the rig Kate has taken a hold of the safety bar on the stretcher. The EMT's load Rick into the ambulance. After this is done Kate jumps into the ride along seat near the rear doors. The doors close and that's when Robbie calls Vanessa and informs her what had just happened. Being quick he ends the call and leaves the tree he was standing under. Not losing sight of the ambulance as it makes its way towards the cemetery exit He follows a safe distance behind the rig.

The EMT's are busy keeping tabs on his breathing and blood pressure. Both are shallow and weak. Kate looks on as they work and she remembers the day on the sidewalk so many years ago. The ambulance driver calls out to them telling them they are two minutes away from the hospital. Rick is hanging on. He's still got a pulse and he's breathing. The doors swing open and Kate jumps out first. The EMT's pull Rick out and the ER doctor is right there.

"Get him into trauma room 3. And do it quick."

Rolling him inside the doctor follows. The trauma team of 4 medical professionals is surrounding the gurney. He is transferred to a hospital bed and both EMT's move clear of the team. Kate is watching everything. The lead trauma resident takes a pair of surgical scissors and starts to cut away Rick's shirt. She continues down to his pants and before long Rick is in his boxers. Then they go to replaced with a terrycloth towel for modesty's sake. The doctor re-enters the trauma room and looks down at his patient.

"Can someone tell me why the hell this man has a Kevlar vest on?"

Kate looks up and sees that he is wearing a black military issue bullet proof vest. The one he's wearing cost well over a thousand dollars. She just hopes that it did its job however she finds it odd that he was wearing one in the first place. Removing the Velcro straps on the front the doctor rolls Rick over and slides the vest off of him. He notes where the bullet hit the vest and takes a closer look at the wound. The vest stopped the round from penetrating into his back, well almost. The tip of the round made it through the vest and left a quarter sized hole in his back near his spine.

"I need a portable X-Ray machine in here now!" The doctor shouts.

The trauma team rushes in with the portable machine and the doctor sets up the first round of X-rays. The doctor looks at the X-rays as they are developed, and his look turns grim. He looks at the woman who came in with him thinking that she is a family member.

"Miss, you are going to need to wait in the ER waiting area for a while, we need to bring him up to surgery now."

"Wait, I need to see him before you go, please?

"You need to be quick." The doctor replied.

Kate cautiously walked over to the side of Rick's bed. She looked into his eyes and he had the strength to take her hand in his. Kate felt the coldness of his touch, obviously from the lack of his blood circulating through his body. She knew the connection they had and she remembered him.

"Richard, you're going to be fine. The doctors here are going to take good care of you and when your back in the recovery unit I'll be there waiting for you."

"Kathryn, first it's Rick, not Richard, that man has been lost for a while now. Rick, on the other hand, is just finding his way back to you."

"Rick, it's Kate, not Kathryn. First, thank you for saving my life. When you're better you are going to tell me how it was that you knew when this was going to happen. I have known you were out there. I had these disturbing feelings that you were being hurt or held in a place that you hated. I hope that our meeting will change how you see the world now."

Kate could see that he was losing the battle to stay conscious. He only gave her a smile and in a fading voice

"You're just like your mother…."

When she looked back to him his eyes had closed and the doctor had walked back to them.

"Miss, we need to get him to the OR now. The procedure I'm going to perform is an exploratory one in layman's terms. I just want to see if he has any damage to his spine. I can tell that his T-10 rib is definitely fractured and maybe his T-9 and T-11 ribs as well. I need to make sure that there is no other damage. It was hard to tell if his lung was not collapsed on the X-ray. I promise to update you as soon as I can."

"Thank you, doctor. I'll wait over in the ER waiting room."

"Actually there is another waiting area you can wait in. See the nurse at the ER desk and ask her to bring you to the OR recovery waiting area."

Kate again offered her thanks and headed to the nursing desk. With one last look towards the double doors, she watched as Rick was rolled through them.

"Don't worry Miss. He is in great hands. Dr. Reilly is an excellent orthopedic surgeon."

"I hope so. He means everything to me. And it's Kate by the way."

After the nurse brought her to the new waiting area about an hour later she heard three sets of footsteps walking towards her. She looked up and noticed two teens and an older African American man. They stopped right in front of her.

"Kathryn Beckett?" The man asked her more as a question.

"Yes, who wants to know?"

"Hello, my name is Robbie Labbe, and this is my son Jude and my daughter Vanessa."

"Hi. What can I do for you, Robbie?"

"Actually I think it's more of what I can do for you."

"What are you talking about?"

"Well there's a story here and since we have the time how about if I tell you all about it."

Jude and Vanessa had taken seats beside each other on her right and Robbie sat next to her on her left.

"This story starts when you were a child walking with your mother on a busy street….


	16. Chapter 16

As Robbie told the facts that he knew of Rick's visions to Kate, he was a little shocked when he finished his retelling of the visions that she had some of these visions as well. Not as in depth as Rick's but he thought that she at least knew about the connection that they shared. Vanessa had added her thoughts on Rick. She was especially concerned with the vision he had of Kate's mother and voiced her feelings on the matter.

"Vanessa, what are you talking about?" Kate asked.

"Kate, he met her! Well, maybe not as you know her. What I mean is that he met her on an astrological plane. He told us that he spoke with her and that she said that you were in danger."

"Really, I really need to speak to him to see if he remembers any of this."

"Kate, there is something that you should know about Rick." Robbie told her.

"What is it?"

"Rick has not uttered a word since I have known him. He decided not to speak because he thinks that while everyone is talking over each other no one is doing any actual listening."

"Mr. Labbe, this is not true. I heard him when he took that bullet for me, he yelled out my name."

The second Robbie was about to dispute her statement doctor Reilly steps up and waits for Kate to see him.

"Miss Beckett, I am happy to say that Mr. Rodgers has come through the expletory surgery very well."

"Doctor Reilly why do I sense a "but" in there somewhere?"

"Well as I told you this was an expletory surgery at first. When we assessed him, his wounds were more serious than we initially thought. He has 3 broken ribs, and two of those ribs that were broken had lodged in his right lung puncturing it. Over time this will heal naturally. His back on the other hand, well, that is a different story. We had first thought that the projectile hit him in the side of his ribcage but about 2 inches from where the ribs meet the spine. After removing the vest, the area that was struck directly was the area from the L-1 up to the T-12. Other than those injuries he's pretty much out of the woods."

"Will he be able to walk again?" Kate asked optimistically.

"That remains to be seen. He will be under heavy sedation until we deem it wise to wean him off the medication. So until it's more of a waiting game til he comes to."

"Can we see him?" Robbie asks."

"By all means. I'll bring you to his room, although he'll be unresponsive. It does help if he knows that someone is there for him."

Dr. Reilly leads the four of them to Rick's room. When they enter he tells him that there are other patients he needs to see and leaves them to it. They can stay as long as they feel is necessary. Kate walks up to the right side of Rick's bed and just stares at him. She can't believe after all that she's heard that he would sacrifice his own life for her. Robbie, Vanessa, and Jude follow and surround his bed. They all watch as he lies there. It's a short time later and they see that he must be having another vision. Even with his eyes closed they are moving underneath his eyelids very quickly.

"You do know what's happening Kate? Don't you?"

"No not in the least. What's he doing?"

"Right now he's having another vision." Robbie answers her.

"How can you tell?"

"Just look at his eyes, they usually move like lightning."

Xx

 _"Richard, let's talk."_

"Kate's mom?  
 _"Yes, Richard, it's Johanna. I want to commend you for courageous actions today. I hope that you see that you've saved more than my daughter."_

"I have? What did I do?"

 _"Richard, you have been in love with my daughter since the day we saw you on the street in front of the store. It was then I knew that you and my daughter were destined to be together."_

I'm not too sure I understand. I mean I care about her, but love her?"

 _"Richard think back to when you stopped speaking. Do you know the reason why you did this?_

"I do. When my mother had thought I had shut down she had disconnected from me. She essentially gave up on me. Each day from then on she displayed to me how much she had stopped loving me. She became distant to what I needed. All I needed was for her to understand that I did not have a problem that needed to be dissected by headshrinkers. When she abandoned me at Bellevue that action sealed my fate."

 _"Richard, now do you see? Are you able to realize why you had kept quiet? You did so because you found it easier to decipher the visions that you were having. Without these visions, my daughter would have met a much more dreadful fate."_

So I was used? Is that it? That what I feel for your daughter is nothing but a trick?" Rick was slowly learning the truth.

 _"On the contrary, what you are feeling for Katie is from the heart, it's the purest of love anyone can give to someone else."_

"So what happens now?"

 _"You follow your heart. It will never betray you. This will be the last time we talk I'm afraid. Our time has come to a close. Just remember one thing Richard, keep her close to your heart and you'll never be alone."_

"Robbie, I think he's coming around!" Kate said.

"I think your right. It's been three days, so it's about time."

"Kate?" Rick weakly asked.

"Rick, just take it easy. You've been sedated for the last two days. Let your body and head adjust to your surroundings."

"Man, I have one hell of a headache."

Robbie looked at Rick with an astonished look. He could not believe his ears.

"Rick, you do know that you are talking right?"

"I am at that. It was like I could never speak Robbie, I just never felt the need to until I saved Kate."

They all turned to the opening of the door.

"Ahh, I see our patient is awake. That's a good sign."

"Kate? Robbie? What's going on?"

"Rick when you took that bullet for me you were hit in the back. Dr. Reilly here thinks that you might have suffered a spinal injury since the bullet penetrated your vest and stopped at your spine."

"Oh."

"Rick, I'm going to perform a couple of tests to see if there is any permanent injury to your spine. They won't take long and I promise they won't cause any discomfort."

"Okay."

"Kate, Robbie could you leave the room?"

Dr. Reilly, would it be alright if they stayed? I don't mind.

"That's fine with me."

Dr. Reilly removed what looked like a shoehorn from his pocket. He lifted the sheet that covered Rick's feet and ran the tool up the sole of his foot. He watched as Ricks' foot did not react to the test. Moving to the other foot he repeated the test. This time, he got a response. Rick's foot curled down.

"Rick, can you raise your legs for me?"

When he did the doctor noticed that his right leg came up and his left stayed motionless. He then asked if he was trying to move both of his legs. He said he was. Pulling the sheet back in place he looked to Rick.

"Rick, it looks like you might have some damage to the nerves of your spine. However, it's just a little early after the surgery to be sure, so I'm going to come back in 12 hours to do this test again."

"Dr. Reilly, do you think that there might be a chance that I'll never walk again?"

"Rick let's not put the cart before the horse. I want to give your body time to heal properly. So I'll see you later tonight."

With that said the doctor turned and left them. Kate was pissed. Pissed off that he gave up almost everything for her and she had never thanked him for what he did for her. She felt so guilty now. How could she thank him now?

"Hey, what are you thinking so hard about over there?"

"Rick, you gave up everything to save me. And now there's a chance that you might not be able to walk again. And I never thanked you for what you did…."

"Hey, hey don't think like that. I was the one who made the choice, I was the one who decided to save you. And for what it's worth I'd do it all over again! So you don't need to feel and any guilt on your part."

"Rick…I-…" Kate had no words to express how grateful she was. So instead of using words, she had decided to show him. She eased over to him and planted a searing kiss onto his lips. He automatically wrapped his arms around her and drew her into him. She fell into his body and before long they were pulling away in need of air.

"WOW!" They both said at the same time. Deciding to cool their sensual needs Kate just held onto him tight and slid alongside him lying close. She liked the closeness they shared. Robbie could take a hint so he quietly left them and went home.

Dr. Reilly returned as promised and he performed the same test he did earlier. This time, the results were different. Rick's feet had tested positive.

"Rick, I have good news. I am positive that your spine is recovering from the trauma. There might have been some swelling that has now subsided and released any pressure on the nerves that gave me the negative result earlier. So let's see if you can stand up."

Rick with Dr. Reilly and Kate's help swung his legs off the bed. They were at the ready if he needed help. It had taken three tries for him to get up, but when he did he felt that he was standing solidly. He took a step and then another. Four steps later he was looking out the window. Two days later he had a clean bill of health and was released from the hospital.


	17. Chapter 17

Years later he stands in the cemetery that would have claimed his wife's life. Ironically it was the same resting place for his mother. It had become an annual rite for him to visit what he could have lost and what he did. He had forgiven his mother for leaving him alone at Bellevue all those years ago. He missed her. Since the day she died he was awarded a large amount of cash for settling out of court with the construction company that ultimately ended her life. He says a silent prayer for his mother and looks up to the heavens hoping that she heard him.

He turns and makes his way slowly to the exit of the cemetery and remembers he needs to make one last stop. He walks about 50 feet and turns up a wide pathway, turns once again and walks for about 7 headstones in and stops. He looks down and reads the headstone.

Alowishus Franklin Garrett

Born 10/16/64, Died 6/8/2003

Beloved father, son, and brother.

Rick removed his hands and extended each of his middle fingers pointed right at the headstone.

"Now who has fucked whom director?"

He chuckles as he walks away knowing how the director had lost his life. They were taking in a violent patient. The doctor had sedated him but he was too big physically for the drug to take total effect. Lashing out at the MD who injected him, he dropped him to the floor with one shot to the head. The director was too slow in realizing that he was in danger. The patient reached for the only thing available to him, a scalpel. With one slice to his jugular vein, his life was over.

He turns and walks back the way he came. He sees the car sitting there idling. He gets to the car and opens the rear door and gets in. As he gets comfortable, his wife asked him if he's okay.

He has always been truthful with her.

"It hurts. The fact that she's not here anymore. I miss her."

"Babe, I know. And I am sorry for what you have lost."

She leans in and kisses him tenderly. Hoping that she can convey what she feels into the kiss.

"We need to get home soon. Vanessa and Jude are coming over to visit with their children." She reminds him.

"Oh, that's today?"

"Yes. They get into JFK around 2 pm. They should be at our house by 4 the latest."

He remembers when Robbie retired and moved back to Haiti. He has been there for the last ten years or so now. He missed him as well. He is brought back from his thoughts when Kate asks him if he's alright.

"I'm fine babe, just thinking about Robbie."

Kate can sympathize with him. Robbie was a big part of them getting married. This coming November they'll have been married for 14 years. It was a simple ceremony. One without fanfare and she loved it. Shortly after he was legally considered sane, not that he was in the first place Robbie had insisted that he take control of his life again. That meant he was no longer his legal guardian. Rick was pennywise with his money. In the time before Robbie left he had renovated all his proprieties his mother had left him. Much to the enjoyment of the tenants. It was an investment that paid him back tenfold.

Vanessa had studied to be an engineer. She was responsible for providing clean and drinkable water around the globe. Vanessa was all over the world, but she still called Haiti her home. Jude had become a sports medicine doctor. Right now he was the team doctor for the Houston Rockets. He also had a practice he gave his time to as well. He settled in Houston. Each of them had two children and Rick and Kate loved them all.

Rick and Kate decided that children were what they wanted the most. After trying and losing two babies, they were graced with a daughter the third time around. Kate had retired from the NYPD and when she did all efforts to find out who had taken her mother from her retired as well. Her mother would not want her giving up living her life to find out who killed her. So she lived her life to the fullest. After she retired she became a full-time mom. Their daughter would be 13 soon and Kate would not trade any of it for anything. She was happy with her family.

"Kate? Are you okay?" Rick asked.

"Fine babe, just thinking that's all."

Rick gave the driver the address to their home and as they were pulling away he could have sworn that he heard Johanna's voice whisper one last phrase in his head.

 _"Now that's a happy ending if I ever saw one!"_


End file.
